Late

I found the Lupatti for a decent price and ordered ...

An interesting side note, I thought: My professor in grad school was at this gig. He was 19. He doesn't remember Bley at all — maybe because Ornette's playing demanded so much attention. Strange that this recording is nearly 50 years old ...

Those were my sentiments exactly when I saw this list. I'll probably pass on the Shepp title, but the Sanders will at last be mine! Is this the first appearance on compact disc of this Konitz title? It's available on iTunes, but I've never heard it. Worth picking up?

It'll be a while before I pick this one up, but I'll get there. How's the music compared to, say, Ornette's Contemporary albums? Does Bley's presence change things up that much? (And who's on bass and drums?) Something a little odd about the Gambit cover, too. The photograph appears to be from the 80's — which is of course when the Hillcrest gig was recorded.

Anyone had time to digest this new reissue? I haven't even picked it up yet, but would be interested in hearing comments — music, sound, running time, etc.

Hi All, Asking for some recommendations again. At this point, I'm most interested in hearing what you might consider excellent recordings of the waltzes, impromptus, and nocturnes. Performer and label recs most appreciated. Thanks!

Oh yeah — while you're there (at the Allegro site), pick up the 2-disc set of early Segovia on Classica d'Oro. $7.99!

Another Beethoven Sonatas bargain heads-up: Schnabel's Complete Beethoven Sonatas (on 8 discs) on the Classica d'Oro label can be had for $27.92 here. I don't know what the transfers are like (as I haven't heard this version), but I thought I'd let people here at least know about it. Orders of $50 or more (while only for U.S. residents) ship for free.

Maybe a silly question, but have there ever been any concertos composed for string bass?

My guess is that we will see all of Wayfaring Stranger, with "bonus" tracks being from Leg Work. Then we wouldn't have a "best-of." Sometimes it's just a matter of diction. Regardless, I hope the project comes to fruition — that's better than not having anything!

Good news — Cuscuna got back to me, and he said that he's "working on" a Connoisseur that will contain the "best" tracks from Wayfaring Stranger and Leg Work, as those dates were recorded on the same day. My guess is that the disc will get close to the 80 minute mark, and have to choose a track or two to lop off. No date set yet, and it's not set in stone of course, but I thought I'd share the positive outlook.

Listen to Bill Chase's "23 Red" from Woody's Winners. The repeated bass pedal note at the beginning of the composition even mimics a sort of heartbeat. I listen to that and Sonny Rollins' "G-Man" when working out. S'fun!

Thanks for posting that review, Hans. I actually haven't heard Heifetz's edition of the Bruch, but was thinking about picking it up after hearing Akiko Suwanai's edition and reading how hers compared favorably to Heifetz's. My ears aren't as discerning when it comes to classical music, but the AMG review raised my eyebrows. Could Heifetz's performance possibly be that failed? I generally try to decide for myself, but when I'm exploring a branch of music that's relatively new to me ... ======= Another discovery (along RCA lines) — EMI has at least three series in their classical catalog that appear to all contain the same recordings ... possibly with different remasterings? • EMI Great Recordings of the Century • EMI Historical • EMI Encore For example, you can purchase certain Maria Callas recordings of what seems to be the same material in all three series. I guess I'll figure things out eventually ...

Would you agree or disagree with AMG's review of Heifetz's recording of Bruch's Violin Concerto: "When these recordings were made in the early '60s, Jascha Heifetz was reaching the end of his long and successful career. And, unfortunately, it sounds that way. His once polished virtuoso technique was starting to fray -- fast passages are smudged, long lines are blurred, bow strokes are too vehement -- and his once famous tone was beginning to dim -- what had been focused, intense, and riveting is now narrow, thin, and even occasionally cracked. While these qualities might conceivably have worked in some repertoire -- possibly Prokofiev or Shostakovich, perhaps Stravinsky or Schoenberg -- they don't work at all in Bruch's lyrically expansive Violin Concerto No. 1 and ardently nostalgic Scottish Fantasy or in Vieuxtemps' brilliant to the point of brittleness Violin Concerto No. 5. Accompanied by the enthusiastic but insensitive Malcolm Sargent leading the professional but lackluster New Symphony Orchestra of London -- a nom de registrement for an otherwise anonymous group of London session players -- Heifetz sounds like he's merely going through the motions." Ouch!

Forgot to add that many discs in this series — even though they hail from the late 50's/early 60's — are actually in genuine multichannel sound — nothing artificially "rechanneled." I don't have a multichannel player, but I bet they sound awesome.

This may have come up at some point in the what-are-you-listening-to thread (or somewhere else), but I thought I'd start a separate thread to draw attention to this wonderful series that I've only recently discovered. I guess it's been ongoing since 2004, and there have been six batches of titles to date. This is the way a series should be done! Hybrid SACD, and with a list price of $11.99! Right now, I'm listening to Julian Bream's Spanish Guitar Classics, and it is phenomenal, both musically and sonically. Don't sleep on this series like I did for so long. It doesn't seem likely to go out-of-print any time soon, but the music demands hearing. I couldn't find a complete list anywhere (not even on the Sony/BMG site), but Tower seems to carry most of them, and for a couple bucks under list, here. Any favorites in this series?

Thanks for the recommendations guys. Strangely enough, Tower had a number of the discs you all listed, and for a little less than CDUniverse! I ordered the Bach disc with Andrew Manze, Richter's Brahms No.2, and Heifetz doing Brahms. Clem, I do have some of the Kammermusik. It is indeed good stuff. A concerto performance that recently blew me away was Akiko Suwania playing Bruch's Violin Concerto. A truly beautiful performance, and every review I've read tends to rave. It's on Phillips, but I think it's out-of-print now. (My local library happens to have a copy.) Also checked out for the first time Rostropovich on Dvorak's Cello Concerto. Stunning. Still getting my ears around this stuff, but your recommendations have helped! If a guy were to go the BMG route (on a concerto binge), what would you recommend from their offerings?

Just tongue-in-cheek with the "expert" tag. But, actually, this board knows its classical recordings. Thanks for the recommendation, Tom. That's also one of the concertos I've been meaning to own. I've really only heard (or paid attention to) Jacqueline du Pré's version. Anyone care to comment on how they compare?

To start, can anyone recommend a superlative recording of Bach's Concerto for Violin, Strings and Continuo in E major? I've heard it so many times, but don't actually own a recording of it. (The last version I heard, on the radio, was Hilary Hahn's — technically flawless, perhaps too fast, and somewhat emotionless, but if she's given some space and breathing room to mature ... she is, after all, only 27.) All recommendations for Bach and Beethoven concertos especially welcome. Mendelssohn, too. I'm actually open to any recommendations for "must hear" concertos. This part of my classical collection is direly lacking, and these days that's where my ears are headed. Thanks for your expert advice!

Why did it get recalled?

Phew — for some reason, I'm not hungover. Maybe it was all the trans-fat in the Totino's pizza I ate. Jeebus, momentary throwbacks to being 21 are strange, and not necessarily recommended ... Anyway, now that that's out of my system, I hear this session — and maybe it's for the very fact that Denardo's playing drums — as a prime, or at least uncluttered, example of what Ornette's trying to do/say with harmolodics (yes, whatever that really means). Pitches don't have to take their place in any kind of diatonic, or even "atonal," system of intervals — they just are what they are: pitches. This leaves Ornette to do what (as it's been mentioned many times already by other musicians and writers) some country blues musicians do — inflect sound. And when Ornette inflects, it's often a sound of joy. Likewise, I'd venture, when Coltrane "inflects," it's a sound of seriousness and enterprise, and for Rollins it might be a sound of wit and seasoned playfulness. The "intervals" that Ornette plays generally seem to have, as their conscious or subconscious base, a folk quality to them (which I'm thinking of as fundamentally "major" with occasional transitions to "minor" — though those very words go against the whole idea of harmolodics, I guess). In the end, of course, none of that matters, and that's the beautiful thing about music — words always, without question, fail it. That's why the business of writing about music always strikes me as odd. As a result, I tend to require for myself, as only one listener of this music, that I try to maintain a necessarily naive (simply in the sense of being open) approach to hearing sound. In this way, when I feel, for whatever reasons, compelled to write something about music, I don't ask myself to turn to any kind of "knowledge" of the "history" of "jazz," but rather that raw, un-scholarly engagement: enthusiasm.

OK, never mind the fact that this week pretty much the only threads I've been bumping up are the Ornette threads and that I didn't post once in the Pulitzer thread. Also, never mind the fact that CAMO 24 oz. fortified malt liquor, with not one but FIVE X's, doesn't taste too bad on a Friday afternoon when the blues are too much, and one needs/thinks they need the taste of beer. What do you really think of this album? If you take the trumpet and violin playing for what it is, this album is close to a bad mo(ther)fo. Ornette Denardo Coleman is actually not bad in the ensemble playing. His "solos" leave something to be desired, but when he's playing behind his dad, it really ain't so bad. BUT, the big revelation comes when you listen to Charlie Haden. He's playing some Danny D'Imperio (e.g. DEEP) shit on this album, even making use at times of Mingus's sliding octave riff — listen to the guy on this record, and you won't need to say anything. Charlie Haden has no ass after this record, because HE PLAYED IT OFF. Really. Just listen to him. I tried (but probably failed, even with the CAMO) to make this post sound like Clem/Chew, but what I'm saying is: THIS IS THE CHEEDLY-BEEDLY-SHEET. 1966, and there are no — absolutely NO — documented recordings, live or studio, or in the woods (yeah, whatEVUH Bread and Bennink) of Ornette in 1963 ... even if Michael Fitzy sez there are ... but I wonder what Ornette was doing in '63 when my brother was being born. OK, never mind, and I apologize in advance, but I wonder what you think of THE EMPATHY FOXGLOVES. Elder Don Whittimore Coleman the IV

It sounds like the better bet overall is to purchase Live in Belgrade, 1971 rather than Whom Do You Work For?. I'm sure both concerts are great, but since the material covered is the same, and if one has to choose ... I've heard the Belgrade disc in parts, and the sound is excellent. And, though it was "released" on compact disc in 1995 and seems now pretty hard to come by — jazzloft.com currently is carrying it. A heads-up for those who want to hear this formation in good sound.

To my mind, with Ornette the unlicensed recordings are a big part of the story (as with many major jazz artists). If I were you, I certainly wouldn't miss this. In fact, even though I have the vinyls I'll probably pick one up myself when it appears. BTW, with reference to the original discussion, Get Back is Italian, not Spanish. Yes, I won't miss it. There's mention of the Get Back label on this thread? It's Gambit that's releasing the Hillcrest recordings. Of course, if the Siberia label Jhunip released the recordings, I'd buy it from them.

Listened to this bad daddy twice through today. On "Harlem's Manhattan," Cherry must be using a mute, at least on the head. But it's not a Harmon mute. A strange, but attractive, sound he's getting there. Ornette does seem to be pushing himself out of some of the riffs that he affords himself on alto. In the process, though, I think he plays over Jimmy Garrison quite a lot. A lot of energy on this record. I wish the Japanese market would reissue this title again — the U.S. box set, from which I'm hearing this session, is starting to show its age.