JSngry

Group photo from the back of X-75 (was a volume II ever really planned?). What's up with the dove? Another "grin" mechanism, it seems!

Shoulda known that the guy's would be up for a grin or two - does THIS look like an "angry avant gardist"?

Sorry for the blurriness. But a cheapo webcam can only do so much, eh? Anyway, the liner notes read as follows: "Open Air Suit" was cut and designed for Air as a five piece suit. Whereby from a customed viewpoint Air was considered, however it was conceived as something that Air would have to fit itself up to or rather into. As a piece each person had to play a hand on the basis of what they had in their hand, secondly on the basis of what was possibly open. Remembering at all times never to photograph one's entire position or game plan prematurely. One piece out of the suit was omiited(sic) for recording purposes due to the fact that an lp can only hold so much music. However Trummps Room 201 Bed 3 will be forthcoming on our next future recording. I might add that any number of pieces can constitute a hand, first hand or second hand. Got it? Actually, it kinda makes sense - seems like he's saying that he wrote five pieces specifically for the album, and that they were pieces that were not written specifically for Air. Also, that the concept of the music was built on group interaction, with it being of the foremost importance to, as the people say, "take your time". The whole card game lingo, though, must be some sort of a private joke or whimsy. Took me a while to figure that out, though, because this was SERIOUS music, and it HAD to have a deeper meaning. Little did I know that Henry was all about FUN! Also implied is that there might be another piece that didn't make the LP, so when and if this gets a proper CD reissue (yeah, right...), there's probably a bonus cut to be had. But what the hell is up with those hand signs? The only one I clearly understand is Side Two, Cut Two.

Side Two...

The listings for Side One...

The back...

Here's the front cover...

I was initially disappointed in this album, because I was hoping for a drum-organ duet-fest, and it's anything but. But when I finally LISTENED to it, I realised just how beautiful it really was. Chambers is one of the most musically astute players out there, not just a "player", but a "mind" as well, and what Larry and him come up with in these performances is deep. Open it and play it. It's music.

What's funny is that in the mid-70s, this album was available in copious, and I DO mean copious, quamtities in the cutout bins of places like Peaches for, like, 99 cents. But I didn't know who George Braith was then, was just discovering Patton & Green, and couldn't get over the fact that the cover pictured a man dressed up in a cowboy suit with two saxophones coming out of his pants. It just looked TOO perverse. So I passed, and had to wait lo these many years to hear this work. Braith seems to operate in some parallel universe, if you know what I mean, but I dig him. This is a really cool album, in spite of the cover photo. You've got to hear it - it's very much a product of the "Swingin' Sixties" in terms of groove and such, but all filtered through the perspective of a man who would think that having saxophones coming out of his pants would be a sales aid. Frankly, I find the music damn near irresistable.

Not as disturbed as you'll be when you finally hear it and realise how long you intentionally didn't listen to it.

It's some wacky shit, and I mean that in the VERY best way.

Good tunes, I'll give it that.

Know Ra!

Just to keep it real...

"Nothing more" merely acknowledges that the "purpose" of the music was to entertain, not to go off into any cosmic explorations or political manifestos. As we've discussed in other threads, the notion that "entertainment" is by definition a "lesser" pursuit is indeed a fallacious one, thus my 2nd half of the statement - "and certainly nothing less". A culture is a complex weave of varying strands, and Lou's particular strand was of the highest possible quality. To differentiate it from different strands is in no way an attempt to assign relative value. Anythung but! It's merely an attempt to focus on exactly what that strand was, which can give one greater clarity as to how all the strands come togehter to form the whole. Ok - in some circles, the heavy duty spiritual/political stuff takes precedence, but I'll tell you what - without a STRONG cultural foundation to launch from, that stuff gets pretty silly pretty quick. And that's where Lou and others came in - making sure the foundation was as solid as it could possibly be, that nobody forgot their roots, that there would always be a commumity for those who moved out (or away) to remember as a defining force wherever they went. Ain't nothin' "easy" about THAT!

The Lou stuff is what it is - blue collar bar jazz, made for a primarily African-American clientele to party to. Nothing more, and certainly nothing less. Members Only jackets came and went, but everybody still digs Levis. Might be a parallel there.

Neither do I (it's some funny shit to think about though)

Congrats, Dan, and keep reelin' 'em in while they're still alive!

Chuck, as long as I'm not discussing music and you're in the room, what was the deal with with the hand gestures and playing card hands on OPEN AIR SUIT? Was Henry just goofin' or was there some real meaning to all that stuff?

Have it your way.

The hubcap thingy is heard to glorious effect on SUISSE AIR, btw.

...no comment....too busy choking on laughter...

ILLUSION SUITE

Uh, just how IS it "intonated"?

LET THE GAMES BEGIN!!!!