relyles

Sunday night I had the pleasure of hearing David “Fathead” Newman live at the Hartford International Jazz Festival. In Mr. Newman’s group were vibraphonist Monte Croft, pianist Laszlo Gardony, bassist John Menegon and drummer Yoron Israel. Unlike most of the music I have heard recently, this show was in a small venue. I was seated no more than 15 feet from the musicians and the intimacy of the venue no doubt enhanced my appreciation of the performance. Nothing revolutionary about the music, just strong straight ahead playing. Over two sets, in addition to a few Newman originals, the group played familiar tunes such as “A Night In Tunisia”, “Hard Times”, Killer Joe”, “Bag’s Groove”, “Christo Redentor”, and “This I Dig of You”. Newman was in good form on tenor, alto and flute and Croft was particularly impressive. I enjoyed myself enough that I actually paid the $20 price to purchase one of Newman’s CDs so that I could have it autographed. Glad I made it out to this one.

Recently I had the pleasure of transferring from LP to CDR for a friend Nistico's 1975 Horo recording, Jazz A Confronto with a group of Italian musicians including pianist Enrico Pieranunzi. Worth hearing.

Right now I am listening to an unreleased performance from Graz in 1976, which features the same group (George Lewis, Dave Holland and Barry Altschul) and was recorded days before the acclaimed Quartet (Dortmund) 1976. Unlike others that have posted on this thread, most of my exposure to Braxton has been through his interpretations of standards or other composers' music. Other than a few unreleased performances featuring the quartet with Marilyn Crispell, my Braxton collection consists of the previously mentioned Dortmund disc, Seven Compositions (Trio) 1989, the Leo 4 CD set and the discs focusing on Shorter, Hill, Monk, Tristano/Marsh and Charlie Parker. At a minimum I have always found his music intriguing, and often entirely fascinating. Listening to this Graz performance has me thinking that I really need to listen to more of his own music so I will be watching this thread with a particular interest in the recordings that are recommended.

You might want to try the CIMP discs doing the music of Andrew Hill and Wayne Shorter, which also feature O'Neil. Of the two, my favorite is Nine Compositions (Hill) 2000. I think those two are similar to Braxton's renditions of standards on the 4 CD Leo box.

I don't think there is any piano on the session, but I will try to pull it out and listen to confirm unless Jim lets us know first since he just recently listend to it.

This Against That was one of my favorite recordings the year it was released - either 2003 or 2002.

Ralph Peterson is actually the leader on that date. That was also my introduction to Byron and a great recording, as well as the followup, Ornetteology. They recently released a new recording on Criss Cross. I am a big fan of Byron's music - in particular the Music For Six Musicians group.

I have heard about them and know someone that I believe has copies of the broadcasts. I have not heard them myself, but I could probably get copies if I could get in touch with the person.

By coincidence I was at that site today and wondered about the status of the Montoliu discography. Thanks for the update.

No, but I have heard portions of the live stuff on the Sanchez/Malaby/Rainey trio recording and it did not do a lot for me.

I agree that Boom is very good. Only had a chance to listen to it a couple of times. Sometimes the subtleties in Pavone's composing need a couple of listens to completely appreciate, but my first impression is that this is a strong disc overall.

Yes. I remember. Thanks much.

Wow. I did not think anyone would care. Thank you.

That is strange, but from the software I use I know how it can happen.

If it's the same recording I know, it's from a festival that presented the drummer as artist in residence, last year. He's not really the leader, but it was him who picked the band. If we are thinking it is the same drummer, that's my understanding as well. I have at least one other recording from his artist in residence series with a sextet I believe.

It seems that somehow on my disc tracks 5 and 6 are reversed from everyone else. On mine track five is Shaw and track six is the trio performance by who like Ubu I probably should not discuss.

I am a big fan of Ferrell. My introduction to her music was on the Capitol release that was produced by George Duke. I have not heard her more "jazzy" Blue Note recording. I also heard her third recording from a couple of years ago that showed a lot of maturity after several years off the scene due to disputes with her producers (not Duke). I love her voice and having seen her live, think she is a terrific performance. Actually, her duet with Will Downing from the Capitol release is the song my wife and I used for our first dance when we were married ten short years ago. If Ferrell has something new coming out, I am buying.

I finally had a chance to listen to both discs. Disc one twice and Disc two once. I listened to both discs in my office. It’s not the ideal environment for attentive listening, but because of all the activity at home, it is where I do most of my listening. I took notes while listening and have not read any other responses before posting my comments. DISC TWO Disc two seems to be pulled from Tom’s collection of unofficial live recordings. I have a slight unfair advantage since I have traded with Tom in the past and also know the source of several of the recordings in his collection. 1. I like the slightly mysterious nature of the introduction featuring the trumpeter before the sax solo. The saxophonist’s tone if familiar and I enjoyed his solo. The sound quality on this live recording is making it difficult for me to appreciate what the pianist was attempting to do. Overall this was an interesting track. 2. I am almost certain that I have this Sonny Rollins show and provided the recording to the person that Tom ultimately received it from. For the sake of fairness I will not reveal the other musicians that participate, but I will say that despite the less than perfect sound quality Rollins and his colleagues are in great form on this track. It’s a shame there are no official releases of this trio in good sound quality. I think the drummer in particular pushes Sonny to some very strong playing. 3. A Monk tune played by vibes, guitar, bass, drums and piano. Solid straight ahead swinging track. The guitar and vibes in particular were impressive. 4. Before the tune has been playing for even ten seconds the drummer has grabbed my attention. He/she is really pushing the saxophonist, who in the beginning seems content to proceed at his own pace. Very interesting saxophonist. Although the saxophonist sounds familiar I am not sure who it is. Very nice! 5. Woody Shaw live performance that I am pretty certain I have. Similar to the Rollins, I will leave the details to myself since I think it is a performance that I seeded on Sharing the Groove, where I think Tom obtained it from. I love it. Excellent. 6. I am pretty sure this is a Herbie Hancock tune. I like the fresh interpretation of a tune that has been played numerous times. The theme is never state outright, but it is implied. Could be the Jack DeJohnette trio with Hancock and Dave Holland.

I finally had a chance to listen to both discs. Disc one twice and Disc two once. I listened to both discs in my office. It’s not the ideal environment for attentive listening, but because of all the activity at home, it is where I do most of my listening. I took notes while listening and have not read any other responses before posting my comments. DISC ONE The overall mood of disc one seems to be somewhat impressionistic or meditative, with a couple of exceptions. 1. Solo piano rendition of “My Favorite Things”. Very impressionistic rendition, which after two listens did not provoke much of a reaction from me. 2. This is a traditional/New Orleans jazz tune with clarinet, trumpet and trombone as the lead instruments. I have not investigated earlier jazz much beyond some Louis Armstrong so I am not very familiar with most of it. Nonetheless, I enjoyed this track a lot. 3. Soulful hard bop tune. Sounds like Stanley Turrentine on tenor. I am not sure who the trumpeter is, but he/she is definitely out of the Lee Morgan/Freddie Hubbard mold. At various points both Horace Parlan and strangely McCoy Tyner came to mind as the pianist, it is unlikely that it is the latter. Meat and potatoes jazz that always satisfies. 4. Sympathetic piano trio. The drummer’s cymbal sound made me think of Jack DeJohnette. The piece attempted to evoke a mood and feeling, which did not do much for me. Too impressionistic for my tastes. 5. I am embarrassed to confess that after two listens I was not able to determine whether this was a trombone or flugelhorn. I am leaning towards the ladder. Regardless, this was a relaxed rendition of a standard tune that I enjoyed a lot. 6. I generally like this male vocalist’s voice, but this particular track does not do it for me. 7. Alto-guitar-bass-drums rendition of “Killing Me Softly”. It is an appropriately gentle statement of the theme before the saxophonists interesting solo statement. The saxophonists tone is appealing and on second listen it reminded me of Kenny Garrett. 8. Alto-piano duet. It continues the overall fragile mood of the first disc. When listening to the track for the second time the Greg Osby/Marc Copland came to mind even though I have not heard that music. I don’t think it is Osby, however, because the phrasing was not entirely like Osby. That said this particular track is okay at best to me. 9. Medium tempo swinging tenor quartet track. The tenor is very interesting. A familiar tone and an imaginative solo. The tone sounded a little like what I can remember of Ernie Watts’ playing. 10. Good saxophonist that is coming out of the early swing/big band period. 11. Something else from an earlier period of the music that I am not entirely familiar with. I must confess again that I have not listened to a lot of pre-bop music and have yet to form a significant appreciation. 12. Swinging quintet track with two altos on a familiar standard. My attention focuses on the bassist a lot. He/she plays some very interesting lines underneath the soloist. I like how the pianist structured its solo. One of the saxophonists is firmly rooted in post bop, while the other seems to be influenced somewhat by the avant garde. The second alto’s phrasing is slightly reminiscent of Anthony Braxton. Very interesting track. 13. Tenor – bass duet.

I heard the group live in August at the Litchfield Jazz Set. It was my second time hearing Watson live and the first time experiencing Horizon live. Enjoyable set. I wanted to pick up the CD then, but they were charging $20 at the festival. I like Watson a lot, but I would be an idiot to pay $20 notwithstanding it could have been autographed. Anyway, thanks for the reminder that I still need to pick this one. I have not heard a Bobby Watson album yet that I do not enjoy.

I received the discs in one piece on Monday.

For anyone who is wondering I think that is a very good price. I paid $30 for a mint copy shortly after Jim's blindfold test. Before that I think I also so it for somewhere between $40 - $50.

The Stanley Cowell recording that made me a fan and provoked an interest in investigating his music further is the 1996 SteepleChase recording, Here Me One. Its a quartet date with I believe Bruce Williams on alto. The playing is strong throughout, but I think what really hooked me was the memorable compositions. As I have now learned, Cowell is a very good composer. Had a chance to hear Cowell live a couple of years ago in a quartet with Charles Tolliver, Cecil McBee and Billy Drummond. One of the most memorable performances I have ever experienced and Cowell was the highlight of the concert.

For a little while I was pretty active on STG, some downloads, but I seeded more music than I downloaded. I swore off it and all other bit torrent file sharing sites when I started experiencing difficulties on my computer which eventually resulted in it becoming inoperable. I can't say for sure that bit torrent was the problem, but I did not have any problems with spyware, adware and/or viruses until I started using STG. You only have to go through the process of reinstalling your entire operating system once to make you ultra cautious.

Yeah, it's really good. I concur. At times its a little difficult to tell the two tenors apart and the music is very loose, but it is an engaging listen.