John B

another disc I have revisited this week is Anthony Ortega - Scattered Clouds on Hat. It is quite a nice disc. Nothing earth-shattering, but it walks a nice line between bop and free, with some fine playing and interesting tunes. It used to be listed on ebay quite regularly for $3 (which is how I obtained my copy) and, if you can locate a copy for a reasonable price, I highly recommend giving this album a chance.

I don't know about that. I'd be curious to hear it, but three discs seems excessive and I have no desire to hear more Guillermo Brown. I have also not heard anything positive about recent (past few years) sets by Ware, so I don't think I'll be buying this set unless rave reviews start to pour forth.

On my first order, Gino sent me a bonus copy of MASAOKA . NUNN . ROBAIR: Crepuscular Music yeah, that's the one I received, too. I've been relistening to a few William Hooker cds I bought a few years back after reading an article on him in an issue of Signal to Noise. Today's selection is Mindfulness, with DJ Olive and Glenn Spearman. DJ Olive doesn't really add anything interesting to the proceedings, in my opinion. He/she is responsible for some "spooky sounds" now and then, but none of it really has much to do with what Spearman and Hooker are doing. This would have worked better as a Spearman / Hooker duo session, as I really enjoy Spearman's playing and Hooker is fairly interesting. I'm not sure what it is, but none of Hooker's albums have ever blown me away. Is anyone else here familiar with his work? (edit) - I also could do without Hooker's spoken word interludes, and Olive is sounding more and more amateurish, to my ears. The Spearman / Hooker sections are nice but, overall, I am tempted to get rid of this disc.

Tony - you should at least own a few Few. (ahem) That Rastascan with Kowald sounds interesting. The bonus disc Gono sent me when I ordered Arcana Major was quite nice. I'll have to post a review of it one of these days.

Perhaps, but not to any degree that bothers me. I may be cutting him some slack due to his lack of recordings for so many years. If he knew this set was going to be recorded and potentially released he could very well have been overly excited and tried to fit everything into his 45 minute set. Either way, I dig this disc quite a bit.

Welcome back! How was the trip? I'm looking forward to reading your thoughts on that disc. The Parker on FMP sounds like an album to keep my eye on. I'm not sure if I have ever heard any recent Alan Silva. Is anyone here familiar with Bobby Few? He played with Ayler and Shepp back in the day and does not have many albums as a leader available. This one is well worth tracking down: Continental Jazz Express is a solo performance recorded live at the 2000 Vision Festival and released on Boxholder. This is a wonderful, lyrical performance. Few reminds me of a more "out" Randy Weston here. Highly recommended!

I've finally had some time to sit down with this disc and give it a few listens. Here are the thoughts I jotted down as I listened: 1) almost a bit too "easy listening" for my taste, but something kept me interested. Definitely something from the early to mid 1970's, to my ears. I have no clue what album this track is from, or who is playing. Not something I would purchase, but interesting to hear one. 2) The rhythm section isn't doing anything that really catches my attention but I am enjoying the sax. no clue who this is. The recording was done extremely well...I'd guess this is a date from sometime in the '90's. Again, no clue who this is. I like this track quite a bit. 3) Very nice track...I dig the alto, the rhythm section is clicking moer than the last track for me. No clue who this is. 4) The sound quality is not helping his cause, but the trumpet player is doing nothing for me. I am really digging the alto work, however. No clue who this is. Was this recorded in a cave or are we hearing deteriorated master tapes? I'd be interested in hearing the rest of this albu, whatever it is. 5) I really like this track. Very 1960's Blue Note sound, with some nice swinging Brazilian flavor. This might be my favorite track so far. No clue who this is but I am very much looking forward to finding out. 6) Nice track, dig the vibes work. This track has a very early 1950's sound but I have a feeling it was recorded much more recently. The tenor player was definitely heavily influenced by Lester. No clue who this is. 7) Not my cup of tea. This track sounds too smooth for my liking. Post-Jaco fretless bass, Chick Corea-ish piano...I'll guess mid to late 70's track, but I have no clue who this is. 8) This one sounds very indebted to Trane's classic quartet. I hear a lot of Tyner in the pianist and a definite Trane influence in the sax work. Not sure who this is...it sort of reminds me of Chris Potter. There is a lot I lie about this track but I'm undecided on the sax work. 9) ok, this tune I know right off the bat. "It Don't Mean a Thing..." No clue who this is. I like the playing but the instruments were not recorded well. The drums sound very muffled. Get this one re-recorded byPeter Pfister and I'd be sold. 10) Nice bass and drums duo. William Parker w/ Hamid Drake? I really dig this track! I'll have to pick this album up if the rest of it is as good. 11) Gorgeous track, sounds like something by Satie, but I am not familiar with this performance of it. No clue who this is. 12) Very odd instrumentation. Sort of "medieval-european chamber improv." I don't think I need to hear an entire album of this but a very interesting track, nonetheless. No clue who this is. 13) Nice track, but not doing a whole lot for me. This is good background music. I have no clue who this is, but it is growing on me as I listen. 14) starts off sounding like Herbie Hancock, then goes into a fairly poppy direction. No clue who this is, although I feel like I should know this one. Another nice track. 15) Not my cup of tea. I'm really not a fan of jazz with vocals but this one is "ok," I suppose. No clue. well, you stumped me on this BFT, Marcus. Great job compiling these tunes! I greatly enjoyed listening to your BFT and am really looking froward to reading the answers.

Got this one a few months ago and for some reason haven't played it yet; I don't know, something (wish I knew what) is keeping me from listening to it... it's not that I find the disc to be bad, perse, it's just that I can think of many other discs I would rather be listening to, given my limited free time these days. Let me know what you think of it once you have a chance to give it a listen or two.

I'm listening to Other Dimensions in Music Special Quintet: Time is of the Essence is Beyond Time right now. This disc has never really clicked with me. I always want to enjoy it moe than I do. The lineup looks great on paper: Daniel Carter, Roy Campbell, Jr, Matthew Shipp, William Parker and Rashied Bakr. The music, however, seems very aimless and "noodling" to me. This disc is growing on me, slowly, but I am still less than impressed with this one. Thom Jurek's AMG review of this one is all over the place. For half of the review I have no clue what he is trying to say and, for the other half, I disagree almost completely with his statements.

Is anyone here familiar with the Norwegian label Smalltown Supersound? They seem to have a very interesting catalog. The disc that really caught my eye is a new Mats Gustafsson / Sonic Youth collaboration: "HIDROS 3 was written for Sonic Youth by Mats Gustafsson. Together with Gustafsson Sonic Youth teamed up with American guitar legend Loren Connors (aka Loren Mazzacane Connors), Lotta Melin, David Stackenäs and Lindha Kallerdahl. Armed with 5 guitars, electronics, voices, audiobox and contrabass saxophone, the group created a massive and monumental sound." They also have some releases from Jaga Jazzist and Kevin Drumm/Lesse Marhaug that I would like to here. I'll have to do a search and see if they have any distribution over here.

I received the disc this weekend and will give it a first listen today. Thanks!

The Associated Press is reporting that Rick James has passed away. He was 56. http://news.yahoo.com/news?tmpl=story&u=/a...mu/obit_james_2

Another album I would not hesitate to recommend to all on Funny Rat is Otomo Yoshihide's New Jazz Quintet - Live, on DIW. Otomo is most well known for his electro-acoustic work on turntable and guitar, but, on this disc he plays in a very straight-forward free-ish jazz way. The band consists of Otomo on guitar, Kikuchi Naruyoshi on tenor, Tsugami Kenta on soprano and alto, Mizutani Hiroaki on bass and Yoshigaki Yasuhiro on drums. They do really nice renditions of Wayne Shorter's Swee-Pea, Eric Dolphy's Hat & Beard and Jim O'Rourke's Eureka. The playing is fantastic and the tunes are given a lot of room to grow and evolve.

You must now listen to 40 tracks of Kenny G in penance and vow to mend your ways. Seriously, I've never bought any Breuker beyond In Holland (on BVHaast), but it is fantastic! This one should go right to the top of your "need to hear" list.

Has anyone here seen the Willem Breuker Kollektief in concert recently? I just found out that they will be playing here next month and am planning on going. I haven't heard anything more recent than In Holland and was wondering how they were playing these days.

I am listening to another album I haven't heard in a very long time: Trifactor - If You Believe. (8th Harmonic Breakdown) Trifactor is Kahil El'Zabar, Billy Bang and Hamiett Bluiett. This is a very nice disc, with some great grooves created by El'Zabar and Bluiett's baritone work. One Final Note has a nice review of this one posted.

Unfortunately all of the KnitClassics cds have gone oop, so, if you see a reasonably priced copy you should grab it. I have yet to hear this disc, unfortunately.

I just realized that the Austrian label Mego has all of their albums available for listening on their website. Mego Anyone interested in electronic music should give Fennesz' Endless Summer a try. It is a gorgeous album and is just about as accessible as this music can be. Right now I am listening to Kevin Drumm's Sheer Hellish Miasma, which is nowhere nearly as hellish as I had been led to believe. I am quite enjoying it, although I would hesitate to recommend it to many people.

I just got this disc in my last eremite order and haven't had a lot of time to sit down with it yet. I really enjoyed it on first listen. NWP. vol.2 is great, also. I hadn't picked up on any Borca / Moondoc similarities but willtry to listen for that next time I spin this one.

those recommendations should keep me going for a while, thank you!

are you familiar with any of the other Clarke - Boland Big Band discs? I'd be interested in hearing more of their work.

Another disc that I had not listened to in a very long time that had not registered with me upon first listen is Stan Getz & the Kenny Clarke - Francy Boland Big Band - Change of Scenes, part of the Verve Elite Editions series. AMG review I relistened to this one again last night and I was completely wrong to write this one off. Great writing and fantastic, energetic playing! I don't know if this one is still in print but I very highly recommend this one. And, yes, it has a connection to Funny Rat: both Manfred Schoof and Albert Mangelsdorff are in the band.

I believe the material on Hat is different. This is the disc I owned: AMG review The cover is the best thing about this disc.

Humidity is one of the discs that was being praised quite a bit. I would still give it a chance, but I won't be seeking it out anytime soon.

ubu - Zorn has released at least five albums of the "Cobra" game piece. The one I owned was recorded live at the Knitting Factory. I just looked at AMG and they only gave it one and a half stars, which sounds about right.