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Thank you everyone. It was a quiet, but good day.

Obituary -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Mike Osborne Saxophonist at the heart of the resurgence of British jazz Richard Williams Friday September 21, 2007 Guardian In the late 1960s, as jazz appeared to be losing its base of popular support, a new generation of musicians revitalised the London scene. Prominent among them was Mike Osborne, an alto saxophonist whose playing combined poise and passion in a way that helped banish the inferiority complex long endured by British musicians. For the next few years, Osborne, who has died of lung cancer aged 65, could be numbered among the most outstanding exponents of his instrument, irrespective of nationality. Prolific to the point of ubiquity during his short time in the spotlight, Osborne was gradually handicapped by mental illness, exacerbated by the strains and indulgences of the jazz life. After several years of increasingly infrequent activity, he finally ceased playing in 1982, returning to Hereford, the town of his birth, where he spent the rest of his life in various forms of care. His long silence deprived jazz of an individual voice characterised by an ardour that seemed to come from somewhere deep within him. Osborne's father worked as an administrator for the local council and his mother owned a hairdressing business. He was educated at Wycliffe college, Stonehouse, Gloucestershire, and arrived in London at 18 to study clarinet, piano and harmony at the Guildhall School of Music. His gifts and interests led him towards a circle of young musicians surrounding the composer Mike Westbrook, who formed the first of his many bands in 1962 and invited Osborne to become one of its principal soloists, alongside the baritone and soprano saxophonist John Surman, the trombonist Malcolm Griffiths and the trumpeter Dave Holdsworth. This ensemble, usually of between 10 and 12 pieces, became known as the Mike Westbrook Concert Band and made a series of albums that won widespread acclaim. Although his ease with the idiom of post-bop jazz and his fondness for the work of such American altoists as Jackie McLean and Ornette Coleman was evident from the start, Osborne was no copyist. His originality could be heard in the cadenza and solo that decorate the version of Lover Man, included as part of the potpourri of standard and original tunes making up Release (1968), the second of the Westbrook band's albums. Taking a tune familiar from versions by Billie Holiday and Charlie Parker, he invested it with a new and compelling poignancy. Soon in demand with other band-leaders, he appeared in Surman's octet, the big bands of John Warren and Kenny Wheeler, Chris McGregor's Brotherhood of Breath, and Harry Miller's Isipingo. Pianist McGregor, bassist Miller and drummer Louis Moholo, all part of the South African diaspora of the 1960s, formed the rhythm section on the first recording to appear under Osborne's name, a quintet album titled Outback (1970). Working with the South Africans exerted a powerful effect on Osborne's approach. Alongside Miller and Moholo, in a trio whose activities extended across a decade and were documented in two further albums, Border Crossing (1974) and All Night Long (recorded at the Willisau festival in 1975), he shed the last vestiges of the reserve that had marked his youthful playing, his tone broadening and coarsening to powerful effect as he engaged in three-way interplay with a pair of musicians who had become soulmates. His tone, which had once sounded detached, now possessed a scalding urgency. He also became a member, with his former Westbrook colleagues Surman and Alan Skidmore, of a saxophone trio called SOS (Surman-Osborne-Skidmore), whose format anticipated those of the World Saxophone Quartet and the Rova Saxophone Quartet. In 1974, SOS spent several weeks at the Paris Opéra, performing music written by Surman and Skidmore for a ballet titled Sablier Prison, created by the American dancer Carolyn Carlson, then newly installed as the company's chorégraphe-étoile. It was the first time that the Opéra had opened its doors to an audience wearing jeans and T-shirts, and it created something of a sensation. Towards the end of their stay in Paris, however, the symptoms of Osborne's illness became troublesome. After returning to the UK he was committed to the Maudsley hospital, south London, where paranoid schizophrenia was diagnosed. On discharge, he and his wife Louise, from whom he was later divorced, decided to move to Norfolk, with mixed results. His friends tell the story of how, at the end of a regular London gig at the Peanuts club in Liverpool Street one night, he hopped into a black cab and instructed the driver to take him home to King's Lynn. Other recordings, notably Shapes (1973), Marcel's Muse (1977) and Live at the Plough (1979), testified to the success of his move away from the shadow of his early American influences. The reappearance of his work on CD in recent years won him new admirers while reawakening the sense of premature loss experienced by those fortunate enough to have witnessed him in full cry. Michael Evans Osborne, musician, born September 28 1941; died September 19 2007 Guardian Unlimited © Guardian News and Media Limited 2007

It could possibly come from this radio broadcast, which I have had in my collection for a couple of years now. Osborne, Mike 10/17/80 3. Kölner Jazzhaus Festival, Musikhochschule, Cologne, Germany Mike Osborne (as), Dave Holdsworth (tp), Marcio Mattos (b), Brian Abrahams (d) It is in deed very good and I will be sure to purchase it once it is officially released. To me, Osborne occupies a similar space as Jimmy Lyons in some ways and I have really enjoyed his playing since a friend hipped me to him.

I am thinking about attending this.

I received the disc today. Looking forward to listening to it in the next few days.

Are these official authorized DVDs with cover art and necessary packaging, or are you attempting to sell DVDRs of television broadcasts that you recorded or acquired through other means? I don't mean to offend, but your post seems a little suspicious to me.

Takase and Mahall have a duet recording. I heard most of the recording and what I heard sounded good. Mahall can also be heard with Der Rote Bereich

I own a few of them, but off the top of my head the Eskelin and Konitz discs are both pretty good. Just for clarification, the Eskelin is actually a reissue of a recording that Eskelin self released several years back.

My suggestion is always to start from the beginning and work your way forward chronologically. But assuming you are not necessarily trying to collect the entire Hill discography, of those you listed Judgment! is probably my favorite.

True, but if the downloads are free or essentially free, that does wonders for the bank balance compared to a serious jones for CDs. Doesn't help much on the time front though -- both searching time and trying to find listening time. Maybe purchases decline, but the budget for blank media rises. Not as costly as purchasing an equivalent number of official releases, but there is a cost involved still.

I don't purchase as much music as I used to, but the bit torrent downloads and trades remain a problem. I have tried to stop on many occassions, but it never lasts very long. So my unheard back log grows faster than I can actually listen.

The Candid release? I do not think this is a solo piano performance.

I echo this sentiment.

I have heard several live unissued recordings by the group. I am encouraged to hear more.

I also heard him live once in Brooklyn and found the performance entertaining.

I have that recording. It is solid and you probably will not be disappointed. But if you only purchased it because of Lou Donaldson, IIRC Donaldson does not appear on all the tracks.

I bought a pair last fall. I don't really have an audiophille ear and my only prior experience with headphones was Sony walkman headphones years ago. When I do actually get a chance to listen to them, I enjoy what I hear.

I own a recent vinyl reissue. I do not believe it has been reissued on CD. I don't think the vinyl will be difficult to find.

I can agree with that being a fair assessment. I would add that if you check out any of his three recent live recordings, you might hear some of that paint peeling sound you mention.

Sometimes when some of the heavy hitters around here get into some of the dialogues such as on this thread it can be a little intimidating to post. Fascinating reading, but I am nowhere as deep a thinker on some of these topics and fear I don't have much of substance to add to the discussion. With that said, I have always enjoyed Spaulding's playing. I have not fooled myself into thinking he is an innovator of any sort, but after listening to him for many years on recordings by Ricky Ford, David Murray, the Blue Note stuff and just about all of his recordings as a leader as well as hearing him live a few times, I can say with no embarrassment or shame that I am a fan. And yes, I have to agree that his new one on Marge with the Pierre Christophe trio is smokin. It is interesting how this thread has progressed. I distinctly remember in a similar heated debate about David Murray a discussion where someone suggested that Spaulding only played with Murray because it was a regular paying gig and not necessarily because he was enthralled with Murray's music. Inherent in that I assumed was the poster's impression of Spaulding as a worthwhile musician. Again, he is far from my favorite alto saxophonist and I agree that he has not recorded anything as a leader that can be considered a classic recording that would have a significant impact on the music and other musicians, but that can be said of for about 95% of the recordings and musicians active in the music today.

His recent CD for Label Bleu, "Another Place", produced by Steve Coleman, is quite good and has a very good band (Jason Moran, Lonnie Plaxico, Nasheet Waits). If you don't have it, grab it while you can. Agreed!

I have only heard the verion on the 2000 Milestone recording, Carambola. The entire recording is very good in my opinion and worth owning.

It sounds like every John Garfield movie I've ever seen. Perhaps, but I know law students and attorneys who are in that very position. They do exist. I think that when I first started practicing, many of my extended family members looked at me exactly that way. I was basically part of the first generation in my family where attending college was expected and in deed many of us did go to college and graduate. So far I am still the only person in my family (which is primarily concentrated in Birmingham, AL, NYC, Dayton, OH, and Detroit) to pursue a legal career or any type of advanced professional degree.

I took the LSAT around 1990. I did take a prep course before hand and do think it was somewhat helpful with at least getting me familiar with what to expect on the exam and successful strategies to use. There is nothing substantive to study for the LSAT, but one definately needs to sharpen analytical thinking.

Is the recording session in September, or will there be a release in September? Any additional info? I did not see anything at either site.