T.D.

I took a complete flyer on the 6-CD Nucleus Torrid Zone box set on Esoteric (with the same cover) two or three years ago and loved it, one of my best purchases of that year (guessing 2021). Still listen often. IIRC I was considering the BBC set and went for the Esoteric instead because it was a lot smaller investment and looked like a fine selection. People (e.g. Lon, felser) have praised the BBC set, and I'm sure it's very good, but at 14 CDs and a considerably higher outlay, I doubt I'll ever spring for it. Sort of a "one or the other but not both" thing. I do enjoy the big Barbara Thompson BBC box, though the spoken intros have begun to grate after a few listens.

Excuse OT post, but as a long-ago resident of Downtown Brooklyn (left early 1990), I'm amazed by how the improv / free / avant-garde scene has thrived in that general area (esp the 3d Ave. corridor from Gowanus to the Roulette site).

Two items that have likely never been ordered together 😄

My adblocker suppresses almost all of the popups. I often visit allmusic for reviews and to research credits. Sometimes to sleuth BFT tunes. 😉 Seems like the site got redesigned a couple of (few?) months ago. For a while it was wonky and I stayed away. Seems to work OK now.

Payment sent via Paypal. From different e-mail than the one I used to register here. Thanks for your generous hosting.

Me too, subject to minimal due diligence / research. 😉

It's just vague. The statement on the cover "featuring Childs, Dumas, Pentland" IMO doesn't guarantee they are on the final tracks 10-12, though they certainly may be. I am sure, based on liner notes and other info, that they are the band for tracks 1-9. Since no exact date is even given for the final 2 tracks (Two Dollar Bills "1980"), I suspect that details of tracks 9-11 have faded into oblivion.

Not that I can see. No formal personnel listing at all. The cover says "...featuring Childs, Dumas, Penland", and that lineup is duplicated on a photo of a poster of the Maiden Voyage date, but no mention of players on the other 2 sessions (1 track Sound Room Dec 78, 2 tracks Two Dollar Bill's 1980).

I can't be certain, but the pianist does look like Hal Galper.

The age-old problem...Free jazz, improv, avant-garde classical, etc. generally can't be listened to in the presence of others. 😶

I was really disappointed on first listen. Agree that Phil comes across the worst on miking, which is unfortunate. Liked it a lot more on a second, more careful listen. But it's never going to get played (here) as often as the Tribe-oriented releases.

I thought SI effectively died years ago, within a year or 2 of ceasing physical publication (my sister used to work for the parent company). The current incarnation is "name only" / smoke and mirrors and couldn't really have fooled anyone with a financial background. I grew up with SI, and back in the old days ('60s through '80s that I recall), it really had a lot of quality journalism and featured some prestigious authors, though the touted photos mainly seemed to be retouched. I even resubscribed for a few years in the oughts (due to $10 annual subscription), but it became clear that the traditional magazine could not survive in the Internet era and was struggling for direction. I dug The Sporting News back in the day, occasionally purchased though never subscribed, but that seemed to (effectively) bite the dust before SI. Many old media names no longer bear resemblance to their ancestors...outside sports, Forbes is a good example. No longer a sports fan to speak of. Agreed that The Athletic seems quality, but I just don't care enough about the underlying events to subscribe. When I played hockey and was a serious fan, I subscribed to The Hockey News for a few years in the '90s. Had to google, but that publication still seems to exist. Amazing! Presumably devoted Canadians keep it going. 👍

Yeah, definitely John Taylor, who really has a touch on electric piano. I somehow forgot to mention that above, even though it's the only real clue I had. Oh good grief, I own the (fairly recently acquired) album...a few hours ago I pulled it off the shelf and thought of checking the tracks while at home (now at work), but didn't follow through. 🙄

Received this a couple of days ago. The whole thing is now on Bandcamp so dumbass commentary from me isn't necessary. 😉 https://orgmusiclabel.bandcamp.com/album/the-found-tapes-live-in-los-angeles

I loved the original series, saw some of the original broadcasts as a child. Was overall disappointed by the Night Gallery series, though I watched much of it. Passed completely on the '80s revival because I assumed it couldn't be anywhere near the original.

Given that you like the Satie piece mentioned in OP, Mompou is a good recommendation. I think that Howard Skempton might work, though I haven't listened for a while. Many of his pieces are short. I rather like his piano music, though there's a question I've never been able to resolve: is it "deceptively simple" or just "too simple"? Here's one of the better-known:

Funny...I was listening to an obscure Japanese disc, and the tune "My Love", attributed to Bob James, sounded classical and really familiar. youtube It's of course (despite the weird attribution) from Bernstein's Candide, which Bob James included on his debut album. Youtube ...don't laugh, Bob James was once a serious jazzist who studied at U of Michigan with some heavy avant-garde classical composers. Now I have to listen to my recording of the Bernstein.

@sidewinder: nice tune, seems familiar but I can't place it. Could be expectation bias, I'm thinking "British jazz" from '70s or '80s considering electric piano. The tenor (who is perhaps not the leader) seems to have some Trane influence, suggesting Alan Skidmore (since I listened to his box set last night), but I'm likely off on all counts.

@randyhersom: of course I'm very fond of this one, Youtube link By about 45 seconds in it's kind of a gimme, but I always enjoy hearing this soloist (not the leader here).

NYT has serious paywalls. For many sites you can view paywalled links in "incognito" (Chrome) or "InPrivate" (Bing), etc. tabs. That generally doesn't work (well, maybe once) in NYT and others of that nature. I already shell out serious $ for 2 journalistic news sources: Bloomberg (financial and intl news) and The Economist (intl news), plus a pittance for local journalism...sympathise with the Times but the budget is not unlimited and I don't care about The Athletic.

I never liked the piece overly much and have pretty much heard it enough. I have a token recording (out of a sense of obligation) which I haven't played in years. But I found the article irritating and pointless, abandoned it after a brief scan.

Considering the LP market (and prices paid for special editions) I can understand any editorial decisions made in that context. 🙂

They have some reasonable looking recordings, though jazz seems to be a minority category. I am puzzled by the number of Sun Ra offerings, and wonder whether those were done in collaboration with Sun Ra LLC, the Irwin Chusid entity that I consider the gold standard of Ra reissues. The one I looked up did not make any such claims, which would not be a plus.