Late

I think all of these are very good records — not just worth having, but worth close listening: • Dennis González: NY Midnight Suite • Kirk Knuffke: Big Wig • Empty Cage Quartet: Stratostrophic • Harris Eisenstadt: Guewel • Tetterapadequ: And The Missing R • Steve Lehman: On Meaning (I think this is Lehman's best recording to date) • Rob Brown: Crown Trunk Root Funk * There are a number of others, but these stand out in particular to me. For some reason, I haven't been able to get into any of Gerry Hemingway's work on this label, and I usually like his bands. Even the record with Ray Anderson, who wows me almost every time, didn't move me. In general, I'd say go for the names and/or bands you know almost nothing about. You're likely to be pleasantly surprised. * Aha! This CD isn't on Clean Feed. It's on Aum Fidelity. One of Brown's more interesting records (I think) so far.

This is an essential Blue Note disc. (I actually bought my copy from Chuck about four years ago.) It also has Earl Hines' only recordings (just two tracks) on Blue Note!

This label is fast becoming one of the best imprints for new improvised music. In particular, check out: • Kirk Knuffke Quartet: Big Wig If you're exhausted by all the new Dave Douglas releases but are still a fan, you really need to hear this disc. (It's also on eMusic.) Trumpet, trombone, bass, drums — and the quartet finds a way out of the usual Ornette trappings. Recommended. • Empty Cage Quartet: Stratostrophic This quartet (alto saxophone, trumpet, bass, drums) works within the Ornette "trappings" and finds new things to say. They've played together for a while, and it shows in all the best ways. • Harris Eisenstadt: Guewel This is a good record in a very unexpected way. Taylor Ho Bynum's on it, and perhaps it's he who brings the Braxton "march" influence to the proceedings. Just when you think the music devolves into aimless noodling, it snaps right back into something organic and organized. Hemingway, Dresser, Lehman, Mahanthappa, Gonzalez, and Eskelin are some of the "bigger" names on the label, but I've found that some of the more rewarding discs are those by relative "unknowns." For the seven-degrees-from-Blue-Note angle, for those that want to have some kind of connection: think Jackie circa 1967, or Ornette circa 1968, then throw in a healthy dose of Braxton from 1975 (OK, not Blue Note) — and take all those musics and push them forward a notch or two.

Really? (To make room for new recordings?)

James P. had a Tiffany pendant? What were the "possessions" — musical, or otherwise? (And did they end up in a museum?) I believe Duke listed James P. as his favorite pianist, if I'm not mistaken. Or at least, when he sat down, the pianist who "could really play."

The Billy Harper is great. Try the Julius Hemphill (Raw Materials and Residuals) as a tonic, however.

I'm glued to the Smithsonian/Folkways disc recently.

James P. doesn't get talked about too much here, and seems (is) a vastly under-recognized figure in the music. Tell us what you like about Mr. Johnson's playing, and what CDs you'd recommend.

I'm repeating a number of titles, but here are some of my favorites: Black Saint: • Muhal Richard Abrams: Mama and Daddy • John Carter: Night Fire • John Carter: Dauwhe • Andrew Cyrille: Metamusicians' Stomp • Chico Freeman: No Time Left • Charles Gayle: Consecration • Billy Harper: Black Saint • Julius Hemphill: Raw Materials and Residuals • Joseph Jarman/Don Moye: Earth Passage/Density • Frank Lowe: The Flam • Jimmy Lyons: Wee Sneezawee • Keshavan Maslak: Blaster Master (ignore the title and awful cover art) • Roscoe Mitchell: The Flow of Things • Don Pullen & Sam Rivers: Capricorn Rising • Don Pullen: Healing Force • Don Pullen: Warriors • Don Pullen: The Sixth Sense • David Murray: Home • John Tchicai: Timo's Message Soul Note: • Bass-Drum-Bone (Ray Anderson): Wooferlo • Borah Bergman & Evan Parker: The Fire Tale • Ran Blake & Houston Person: Suffield Gothic • Ran Blake: Short Life of Barbara Monk • Jaki Byard: To Them-To Us (didn't like this one for a long time, but it grew on me) • Bill Dixon: Son of Sisyphus • Dave Douglas: Parallel Worlds (I think this is his first album?) • Ellery Eskelin: Figure of Speech (great music; the volume is disturbingly low for some reason) • Tim Berne: Loose Cannon • Andrew Hill: Strange Serenade • John Jang: Tiananmen! • Steve Lacy: Vespers (the best Aebi out there, in my opinion) • Frank Lowe: Decision in Paradise • Max Roach: Scott Free (also took me a while to get into this one) • George Russell: Othello Suite • Cecil Taylor: For Olim (the "gentle" Taylor album; still great) • Gebhard Ullman: Kreuzberg Park East (the most obscure Soul Note?) • Tom Varner: The Mystery of Compassion (Julius Watkins would be proud of Mr. Varner)

In my 30+ orders over the last three years, Tower.com has been fairly reliable (— I've had one item that never shipped), and I've never received a used disc in place of a new disc. One caveat: never put anything in your shopping cart that doesn't say "in stock" or "on sale - ships in 12 hours." Those are the only items that actually ship. I've usually received my orders in 7-9 days, sometimes all in one box, but more often separately and in successive days. The prices at Tower.com are almost always the lowest on the net, but they fluctuate wildly. After you place an order for a disc (and it ships), check back on the price from time to time. It will usually drop for about a week or so, and then go up considerably after that. For no reason in particular, I've been following the pricing on the Criss Cross label (usually $17 retail per disc), and have watched prices go down to $11, and then back up to retail. As far as Caiman goes, I've had even better service from the Caiman Outlet (through Amazon). Their "used" discs, at least in my experience, are almost always new for some reason. I ordered a 15-disc box set of Montserrat Caballé used for $62, and it arrived in shrink wrap with the manufacturer's sticker on it. That said, when I'm shopping through Amazon, I always try to purchase items from ImportCDs, even if the price is slightly higher. They're based out of Irvine, California, have a diverse selection (mostly classical and jazz, but with a decent tango selection as well), and they ship promptly (though that may be because I'm on the West coast). I usually receive orders from them in about 4 days. Anyway, enough on that. I have no connection with any of the above sellers; just wanted to share my positive experience(s).

That video is hot. Gives me a renewed appreciation of Quinichette.

Blues for an African Friend

Quartet for two tubaxes, contrabass saxophone, and subcontrabass saxophone here.

Check out this short tubax Nice. The tubax (now that I know what it is) actually makes a lot more sense than the contrabass. It's a feasible, and beautiful, instrument.

Many in stock and on sale here. Pick up Frank Lowe's The Flam for $11. (Or the Dewey Redman, which was impossible to find only a few years ago.)

But I might like this contrabass saxophone video even better:

Braxton on contra bass:

Thanks for posting that (first) video! Here's the same guy playing the "tubax" and soprillo. (The soprillo is higher and smaller than the sopranino, and the tubax is, well, I'm not sure.)

You're right about Naxos. I have no problem with any of the discs I've purchased on that label. Despite being a "budget" label, they put out a high quality product. I found the Schnabel "Named Sonatas" on Pearl through Amazon UK. Expensive, but no more than the label's (admittedly high) retail price.

Tower currently has Schnabel's Schubert Impromptus for under $5 here. There's been some noise reduction (not too terribly much, I don't think), but the music far surpasses the sonics. One to hear if you haven't already.

Just "discovered" Ingrid only yesterday, and have Here on Earth on order now. From reading this thread, I'd like to hear her live.

Thanks gnhrtg. I currently have the Classica D'Oro edition ($27 for eight discs), and you get what you pay for. The music is amazing, but I can barely listen to the transfers. They actually sound best on the boombox I have in the garage. Does anyone know an online vendor (other than Amazon or Tower) where Pearl discs are for sale and (possibly) in stock?

Where can a person find copies of Schnabel's Beethoven Sonatas on Pearl for less than a fortune? I keep reading that the Pearl editions are the most faithful to the 78's ... and that they're also out-of-print (and selling for exorbitant prices on the used market). Are the Naxos editions that much of a step down? Argh!

I wonder what kind of profit DG is making from these titles. If they're selling them for $5, are they buying them for ... $2? I purchased eight titles, a mix of Muse and Landmark, and am looking forward to hearing them. I remember when they initially came out in the early 90's, but at that time I was too involved with collecting "classic" jazz. I did buy about five Wallace Roney titles back then, but only kept Seth Air, which is still an album I like. It was recorded the day Miles Davis died, and apparently Roney was informed of this half-way through the session. I don't know if this charged the session one way or another, but, at least in my mind, Roney (who I consider, fairly or unfairly, an epigone) seems to have more purpose in his playing than usual. I remember a Lester Bowie blindfold test in DownBeat some years ago. When a Wallace Roney track was played for him, he remarked that the trumpeter really had the "Miles bag" down. When he was told it was Roney, his tone seemed to change radically, and he proceeded to criticize Roney for not really doing anything with his talent.