T.D.

Billy Harper's Capra Black is practically the Holy Grail of oop CDs, so a physical release would be killer. Might be too much to hope for, so the DL route beckons.

I have a recording of one of Braxton's operas, Trillium R. It is very good, much better than I expected. The plot and libretto are (at minimum) highly interesting, although there is much I cannot claim to understand. Regrettably, I don't have the budget or time to keep up with all the installments.

The little I've read of Braxton's writings I found rather impenetrable (likely my bad), so I didn't pursue more. I just located some discussion of his compositional diagrams here but on a quick reading I'm not sure how the "composition #", e.g. "Composition #19 for 100 tubas" relates to the "composition diagram-title", e.g. Maybe the former is something like an opus number.

Agreed, this is truly excellent.

Yeah. I mentioned the reissue in another (Noah Howard iirc) thread and you recommended it! I then listened to a lot on bandcamp before ordering.

Ra, Noah Howard and assorted MPS. Happy to have found the John Taylor.

I hope so, weighing in at 95 lb. empty. But if not, at the price one couldn't complain! +1

Controversial ensemble, but playing it straight here.

Maybe "jazz festival" is more upscale marketing than "rock festival"? The latter carries some baggage. 🤪

It [Tristan Honsinger, From the Broken World] is, but a little "difficult" and it took me a few listens to appreciate.

The controversial (OMG! 😓 but then we're talking classical music here) recording with OVPP and extremely fast tempi.

Dusty Groove had it in stock when last I looked. That's often a good US source for JIB CDs due to domestic shipping.

Scheduled for 23 May: Nuits de la Fondation Maeght (Aug 3-5, 1970) 6 LP / 4 CD box set on Strut. bandcamp page

Thanks for posting the Montréal info. Plenty there I'd want to see. Lots of performers, so should be something for almost everyone, though of course the biggest draws are not "Jazz". Funny that the majority of acts that interest me fall into the third (small print) typographical tier. 🤣 Dunno if that says more about me or the festival.

Agreed. Much better than I feared and the thread title implied.

Something I just noticed today, probably can't make it: Zoh Amba Sun Ensemble at Tubby's this Thursday (17 April). Also heard about a May event: Thursday, May 15 Philadelphia's Bark Culture will be performing at Tubby's on a bill with Blue Lake (Denmark/Texas) and Ezra Feinberg (ye olde Hudson Valley).

I just listened to that one (Continuance) on Youtube, plus some live renditions of a couple of the tunes. I got some Windham Hill vibes from one of the live pieces (this one) but not from the album. The music's not bad, and he does seem to have his own voice (e.g. I can't say his style is "out of" big name pianists X, Y, Z, ...), but overall I found it somewhat anodyne and it didn't sustain my interest. I'm enjoying Connie Han's playing more...some of that could be choice of material, or that she can perceptibly channel Tyner, Corea, even the dreaded OP at times, but a lot of it is that Joey's playing on that one album is a little subdued for my taste.

Yuja Wang seems to be a rather polarizing (I'll refrain from some obvious puns 🤣 here) figure in classical music, but she's a really big star.

That wouldn't surprise me. I have (surprisingly) seen some boomer types mention Connie Han on another jazz forum. My cynical side says that a lot of her appeal is wardrobe-based, but that schtick has worked on a high level (Carnegie Hall, etc.) for Yuja Wang in the classical arena, so I won't automatically discount Han on that basis. 😁

Off-topic, but I see Connie Han (solo and piano trio) will be nearby this summer. About 7 years older than Alexander, has recorded on Mack Avenue, seems to play a lot of standards as well as originals. Rarely mentioned on this forum except for a few old CJ Shearn posts. I'm open-minded, but will audition some online programs before spending on tickets.

Peeked at Jim's post on #10 after listening and drawing blanks. My first reaction to the piece, after about 20 seconds, was "Oh dear...", not digging the male speaker. On full listening, I loved everything else about it, especially arrangement, female vocals, trumpet and trombone. A certain irony in the lyrics brought to mind somebody like Eugene McDaniels, who surely is not involved. Would never have ID'd anyone, even though I own a couple of the leader's albums and an extremely well-known drummer/percussionist is included. After a couple of listens I think it's a great cut, but the male vocals would probably keep it off "heavy rotation" in the household.

Good point, that.