Nate Dorward

Nothing corny about Frishberg! (Cue "I'm Hip"......)

I only have two discs of his under his own name, Classics (a condensed version of his two Omnisound discs) & Live at Vine Street. Both are terrific (fans of "Van Lingle Mungo" should check out "The Sports Page" & "The Dear Departed Past" on Vine Street, too). The most recent ones I've heard on the radio have been just fine but not quite as fresh as the earlier discs (& of course his voice is a bit frailer now). He's also on a Rebecca Kilgore album I recall.

March 23rd was Dave Frishberg's 72nd birthday. Suffice it to say that his discs rarely are too far away from the CD changer here. As it happens, there was some discussion on the (private) SABR discussion list of his classic song "Van Lingle Mungo" (a list song that virtuosically fits countless odd-sounding old-time baseball players' names into a catchy bossa tune). Dave himself weighed in on the list, & I asked his permission to repost his comments (which he kindly granted). I've pasted them in below. --N * ***** **** Lastly here's a bit from the email Frishberg sent me--I'd said "I was actually unaware that there were two versions of the song--the only version I know is the later one, on Concord (I think it's a doubled-up reissue of a couple LPs from a different label)." Frishberg's reponse was: Talk about "dedication to one's craft"!

The Assumed Possibilities disc on Rossbin is worth checking out too. & the Manuel Mota solo disc. I don't think I've heard any of the others.

Jeez, your high-frequency sensitivity must be taking a beating if that's in heavy rotation in your house. Just listening to it straight through is enough to get my ears tingling. Interesting disc but it's definitely not one I pull out lightly. I truthfully have no idea what I've listened to most over the years.

Not me, I've never heard his stuff. Re: solo discs, Stephane Rives' Fibres is a very interesting new one, on the extreme end of things. Didn't know you knew Nelson-Raney, Chuck. I corresponded with him a few years back concerning his settings of Tom Raworth's poetry but haven't heard his music.

I've heard the Norris, Brackeen, Jessica Williams, Friedman, Kellaway, McKenna (the 1st, I think there was a return visit), Byard, & Broadbent. (Some of them I own, some I used to play when I DJed.) They were all pretty-good-to-great.

Incidentally has anyone read Peterson's recent autobiography?

I think my use of my real name is just laziness (no great inspiration for a handle) & because I get tired of people misspelling "Dorward" (there's a jerk on Jazz Corner who still can't, or won't, get it right) so figure I might as well put it onscreen to help folks..... Anyway, good to see you here Ted.

Oscar Peterson had said negative things about Monk prior to the blindfold test (the usual "can't play" stuff), in my recollection, which is the subtext of Monk's going to the bathroom there.

Sonny Criss's album Sonny's Dream is a fine one. Again, not a working band.

See, it all links up--a massive conspiracy. Anyway, if you feel like going on about Perelman & Bergman go ahead & start a thread--I wouldn't have made the one-line remark if I thought it'd end up derailing the thread. Perelman is at least pertinent to a discussion of free jazz tenor sax but I haven't the faintest why you feel obliged to go on about the pianist Borah Bergman in this context.

replies to I haven't heard enough of Ware to have an opinion about him. I have Go See the World but never have listened to more than about 15 minutes of it at a time. The one concert I saw was a mess (Victoriaville in mid-1990s) but he was on crutches & medication at the time, & shortly about to bump Whit Dickey out of the band, so maybe it wasn't a good way to experience him. All I can say is avoid Threads despite the insane tolerance shown towards it in the Penguin Guide.

If you want that, try Ivo Perelman.

I wouldn't pay 40-60 pounds to see Oscar Peterson now, no. Keep in mind he's been really affected in recent years by a stroke--is he still playing one-handed (as he was for a time)? I saw him once in the 1990s, it was OK but I remember nothing of it.

Pearson's not on Solid, it's Tyner, but there's a Pearson tune in the setlist (the lead-off minor blues). I take it Pearson was eager to make guys play his tunes.... I think that it'd be interesting to hear the unreleased session though it's very unlikely to be a winner. Perhaps the most sensible thing would be for it to be made available as a download rather than actually released on CD. If nothing else it'd be nice to hear the earlier take on "Ezz-Thetic" for comparison.

See, he gets away with it!

Hm, is he a fantastic technician? I haven't heard the new one, but was just listening to Tuskegee Experiments & was marvelling at the number of clinkers he gets away with there.

Glad that at least I got Liebman there--I'd figured by the time I got round to rwiting up the discs most of the i.d.-able tracks would be i.d.'d. The Hodges solo on the original "Blood Count" is easily one of the most disquieting, raw things ever put on record.

OK lessee-- 1: Ben Webster & I don’t remember the name of this tune. Hm, just tenor, piano, & drums, maybe an informal after-hours thing. Oh, here’s the bass. Very, very pretty. Maybe one of those 1960s Webster live dates form Europe? I don’t think it’s a band of Ellingtonians. Anyway, so the BFT starts on a high point...! 2: Dig that surface crackle! No idea who it is. An airshot, I assume? 3: Oh I forget the name of the tune. More airshot-quality sound. Yow, a take-no-quarters solo from the tenor, filling up all the space. Pity it fades out. 4: Ugh, I don’t know how much more of this sound I can take, it seems to be getting worse.... Probably Coleman Hawkins buried under there somewhere (maybe it’s just the “Body & Soul”ish keychange at the bridge that makes me say that, but, no, I think it’s him). What’s the tune? 5: Oh good, some decent sound. 1940s swing-to-bop tune over rhythm changes, reminds me of “Knockout” on George Wallington’s Savoy disc. Somehow I’m not getting a lot out of this one though it’s probably historically interesting. Nice suspension at the end of the vibes solo, & wow, some snapping-turtle electric guitar. Some harmonically nice things in the piano solo. Not a great track, but an interesting track. 6: OK, modern times. Demure call & reponse bluesy tune. The altoist knows his Jackie McLean & James Spaulding & other Blue Note altoists, otherwise I haven’t a clue who it is. & the trumpeter has also listened to a stack of Blue Notes. I’d be surprised if this was actually old veterans, it sounds like young guys playing old to me. The pianist maybe a little more interesting than the horns. Gimme the old surface crackle..... 7: This is a little livelier. Aha, Helen Merrill. Not typical of her work, at least the stuff I’ve heard! Hm, early Bill Evans on the piano. The drummer I should know too, but can’t quite put my finger on it. Must be one of the Mercury dates. 8: I recently reviewed a rather nice hardbop accordian disc by Pino di Modugno, tell me if you'd like my copy Flurin. No idea who this is. The studio acoustic seems a little old-fashioned, I'd thoguht this was a recent track originally but just the studio sound makes me think 1960s. Other than the instrsumentation there's nothing especially remarkable about the track. Curious drop in volume at the end. 9: Icky sound, which is a pity. Ornette tune, "When Will the Blues Leave?" West Coast vibe, maybe following the lead of Art Pepper's reading of the tune for Contemporary. The trumpeter sounds terribly familiar, the tenor less so. 10: Aha, a Cecil Taylor tune off The World of Cecil Taylor, I think it's "E.B.". Not so often you hear Cecil covered. The big difference here of course is that the rhythm section plays just as freely here as the pianist whereas on the original Denis Charles mostly keeps time. A good band performance with a nicely unpredictable development (obvously carefully worked-out, with the pianist reaching a vehement climax & then the mood immediately getting calmer for the bass solo). Nice idea for the fadeout with the dancing treble figures too. 11: no idea! Fun, if nothing else. The trumpeter sounds familiar, the rest I dunno. 12: Nice dramatic opening with the acerbic alto jumping out of the bass drone. Reminds me a bit once the percussion kicks in of Sonny Fortune’s work with Glen Velez, but I really don’t know this: the guy’s tone is so distinctive that I think I would know who it is if I already knew his work. Good track. 13: No idea who this is. It’s OK without doing much for me, whether in the slow opening or the fast blow in the middle. 14: Slick. 15: I liked this one a lot--interesting chart, good solos. No idea who it is. 16: hm, I initially thought Carla Bley, but the writing doesn't quite seem like her. I don't get a lot out of this one. I think on balance I'll still plump for Carla Bley though it does seem awfully cluttered for her. 17: Sounds like a guitarist halfway between Frisell & Scofield! Nice powerful rhythm section. It's an Ayler tune, so I think I'd have to guess Marc Ribot for this. 18: Ellington of course.

Finally got these discs after a long postally enforced delay. So, just a quick rundown without looking at the rest of the thread.... 1: Crowd noise, martial sounds..... Oh, I forget the name of this tune (“High Society”?). Hm, is this a traditionalist outfit or one of those bands like Willem Breuker’s that throw in arrangements of older stuff every so often? I don’t know. 2: Joined who? Can’t quite make it out. 3: “Sunny Side of the Street” with a Hodges-style alto & an Armstrong-style vocal: maybe a little too close to Cookie Monster territory at the end, but it’s a nice track. 4: A riff tune, I forget the name of this, though one of the riffs certainly resembles “Christopher Columbus”. The alto reminds me of Sonny Criss though I don’t think this is the kind of track he’d normally be playing on. Not my favourite kind of trumpet. 5: Ellington, this is on the Far East Suite but I forget the title. A live track. I’d have to compare the tracks but I think there’s some significant differences between this & the studio version. 6: “Basin St Blues” of course. Good solos all round. This is the first track I really like a lot. 7: This was always a feature piece for Albert Mangelsdorff & I think the multiphonic arrangement is identical to his so I’m pretty sure it’s him. I have this on an MPS 2CD compilation but I don’t think it’s the same track (recording quality/balance isn’t as good). If it ain’t him it’s Ray Anderson, but truthfully it’s a bit dull for Ray. There’s an intrusion of another instrument halfway through, so, OK, it’s definitely not the MPS track. Hm, some darned odd soprano sax here, maybe Dave Liebman but whoever it is gets such a brief look-in it’s hard to tell. 8: Handsome tenor opening. “Blood Count” so I’m immediately thinking of Getz, though it’s definitely not the version on Pure Getz. But it’s weird – I keep expecting some Getzian drama & it’s all so low-key. I dunno, am I missing something? I keep waiting for something to happen here. No idea who any of these guys are though probably I should know. Oh good, at least they doubletime it a bit when the tenor reenters. Hm, a few licks here begin to sound familiar.... & my CDR starts skipping just now. 9 -- too much skipping to listen to it 10: "Fly Me to the Moon / In Other Words" for organ trio. Hm, though it's obvious to say it I think this actually is Jimmy Smith, at least a lot of the moves sound familiar from his style. Nicely overpowering climax. 11: "Whisper Not", rather muted opening/sound. Very interesting, quirky tenor solo (suffice it to say I was reminded of Warne Marsh & Von Freeman at various points!). The pianist doesn’t interest me greatly but it’s funny to hear how the drummer takes off during the piano solo! As if everyone had been holding back during the tenor solo. No idea who this is, I don’t think it’s Golson himself. 12: yikes, an off-mike moment at the start. Nice tenor oratory at the start, a rather dark-toned “Body & Soul” it turns out to be. Rather too quiescent for my taste & it does go on for ages...... Interesting to note that at one point there’s a snippet that suggests whoever it is has heard James Clay’s version on Don Cherry’s Art Deco. No idea who anyone is. 14: "Jada". Probably I should know these guys, both sound familiar. Anyway, a nice track to end the BFT.

The recent In Search Of / Momentum 1-10 on Dreyfus is excellent. Good tunes, too.

Yeah, never really quite warmed to the Oxley/BIMP disc. I used to like the Tony Oxley Quartet disc on Incus quite a bit, which is the same group with Derek Bailey (on distorted electric guitar throughout) rather than Wachsmann. It's not exactly a subtle disc--basically Pat Thomas & Matt Wand spend a lot of time triggering ludicrous sound effects, barrages of drum machine racket & smarmy BBC voices--but somehow it works.

Chaney--I think "pop music = capitalism = bad" is probably all you need to say. -- Spencer seems to confuse mere snobbishness with cultural critique.

Yes, but it's by Wayne Spencer, who's a self-righteous dipstick, as witness: Incidentally Dan tells me the Fages disc that Spencer's dumping on in the foregoing is quite good.