Joe

I'm a fan of the 2 Trees LPs, GARDEN OF JANE DELAWNEY and ON THE SHORE. Very indebted to the Fairport aesthetic, but there's slightly more "rock" -- thus a little more shading and grit -- here than folk. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Trees_(folk_band)

There is something of a companion volume to this release as well, recorded for Capitol... SOUNDS http://www.bagatellen.com/?p=560

I've tried and tried, and I love the work of every player involved. But... this one still does not connect with me. At the end of the day, I have to fault the compositions themselves, which I find a little too schematic / straitjacketing.

Lyricon, ukelele and castanets

FWIW, I prefer the QUINTETS AND STRINGS date to the Octet recordings (ZOUNDS is the best of the lot, IMO)... the instrumentation really compliments Niehaus' often meticulous arrangements. Vol. 4 is buttoned up rather than buttoned down, if you know what I mean. Then again, I'm a big fan of Hal McKusick's IN A TWENTIETH CENTURY DRAWING ROOM and Konitz's AN IMAGE, so, clearly, I'm not entirely objective when it comes to "standard jazz combo featuring frosty / cerebral lead alto plus string quartet / section" dates.

To the best of my knowledge, this is this session's first appearance on CD. Long been intrigued by this one, largely due to that frontline. BTW, the Futura website has the recording date listed as 1970 (1974 being date of original release, I suspect). http://futuramarge.free.fr/ (scroll down)

Sad news. The novels and stories (esp. "My Appearance", a dissection of both the dread and fascination televised spectacle inspires in us) are mostly wonderful, but I'll really miss Wallace the essayist. Wide-ranging and pretty fearless on that front. The "profile" he wrote on David Lynch for the old PREMIERE was one of the best peices of magazine writing I've ever read.

If you can track down a copy, carpe diem (as JSngry might say) on VALVE NO. 10, a Soul Note recording under Bang's name featuring Lowe alongside Sirone and Denis Charles. Wonderful rendition of "Lonnie's Lament". I also very much like Lowe's duets with Eugene Chadbourne, DON'T PUNK OUT, though they probably won't be to everyone's tastes. If I may... http://www.onefinalnote.com/features/2001/lowe02/

Julian Jaynes' THE ORIGIN OF CONSCIOUSNESS IN THE BREAKDOWN OF THE BICAMERAL MIND Philip Ball's UNIVERSE OF STONE: A BIOGRAPHY OF CHARTRES CATHEDRAL

4 of 8... and I actually saw the TWIN PEAKS movie in the theaters

Nice collection of performances and interviews with "experimental" musicians available here: http://www.ubu.com/film/roulette.html Among the jazz or jazz-related artists featured are Billy Bang, William Parker, Andrew Cyrille (with Bob Stewart and Roy Campbell), Marilyn Crispell, Oliver Lake and Guy Klucevsek.

A couple of Italian recordings... Guido Manusardi, THE VILLAGE FAIR Gianluigi Trovesi, FROM G TO G Oh, and any of the Henry Threadgill sessions on About Time (WHEN WAS THAT?. JUST THE FACTS AND PASS THE BUCKET, SUBJECT TO CHANGE).

My favorite Rava releases: -- L'AGE MUR (Philology), a pianoless quartet with Lee Konitz and a great (if not "name") Italian rhythm section -- DUO IN NOIR (Between The Line), with Ran Blake -- THE PILGRIM AND THE STARS on ECM -- ITALIAN BALLADS (Music Masters), with Richard Galliano

First there is a mountain Then there is no mountain Then there is ***** When I was a boy I thought about the times I'd be a man I'd sit inside a bottle and pretend that I was in a can In my lonely room I'd sit my mind in an ice cream cone You can throw me if you wanna 'cause I'm a bone and I go Oop-ip-ip oop-ip-ip, yeah! If I don't start cryin' it's because that I have got no eyes My father's in the fireplace and my dog lies hypnotized Through a crack of light I was unable to find my way Trapped inside a night but I'm a day and I go Oop-ip-ip oop-ip-ip, yeah! One... Two... Three... Four! [Followed by the sound of a nuclear explosion] ***** Chewin' on a piece of grass walkin' down the road tell me, how long you gonna stay here Joe? Some people say this town don't look good in snow You don't care, I know. Ventura Highway, in the sunshine Where the days are longer The nights are stronger than moonshine You're gonna go I know Cause the free wind is blowin' through your hair and the day surround your daylight there Seasons cryin' no despair Alligator lizards in the air Wishin' on a fallin' star Watchin' for the early train Sorry boy, but I've been hit by purple rain Aw, come on Joe, you can always change your name Thanks a lot son, just the same Ventura Highway, in the sunshine Where the days are longer The nights are stronger than moonshine! you're gonna go, I know Cause the free wind is blowin' through your hair and the days surround your daylight there seasons cryin' no despair Alligator lizards in the air in the air [Doodle-loo-do-doot etc.] ***** The continent of Atlantis was an island which lay before the great flood in the area we now call the Atlantic Ocean. So great an area of land, that from her western shores those beautiful sailors journeyed to the South and the North Americas with ease, in their ships with painted sails. To the East Africa was a neighbour, across a short strait of sea miles. The great Egyptian age is but a remnant of The Atlantian culture. The antediluvian kings colonised the world All the Gods who play in the mythological dramas In all legends from all lands were from fair Atlantis. Knowing her fate, Atlantis sent out ships to all corners of the Earth. On board were the Twelve: The poet, the physician, the farmer, the scientist, The magician and the other so-called Gods of our legends. Though Gods they were - And as the elders of our time choose to remain blind Let us rejoice and let us sing and dance and ring in the new Hail Atlantis! Way down below the ocean where I wanna be she may be, Way down below the ocean where I wanna be she may be, Way down below the ocean where I wanna be she may be. Way down below the ocean where I wanna be she may be, Way down below the ocean where I wanna be she may be. My antediluvian baby, oh yeah yeah, yeah yeah yeah, I wanna see you some day My antediluvian baby, oh yeah yeah, yeah yeah yeah, My antediluvian baby, My antediluvian baby, I love you, girl, Girl, I wanna see you some day. My antediluvian baby, oh yeah I wanna see you some day, oh My antediluvian baby. My antediluvian baby, I wanna see you My antediluvian baby, gotta tell me where she gone I wanna see you some day Wake up, wake up, wake up, wake up, oh yeah Oh glub glub, down down, yeah

First read about this in CABINET magazine; good to see the story has not gone away. http://www.cabinetmagazine.org/issues/23/

http://www.nme.com/news/kanye-west/36827

We'll try to have the BBQ ready by then...

Context

Electric Lightnin' -- Track down MOJO HAND and LIGHTNIN' AND THE BLUES Acoustic Lightnin' -- I'm partial to LIGHTNIN' IN NEW YORK / the Candid date and the sides Sony recently anthologized on HELLO CENTRAL. I wouldn;t necessarily sleep on the Prestige recordings, either. My favorite of these sessions have been compiled on DOUBLE BLUES (I think they may also be available separately as well.) "I'm Going To Build Me A Heaven Of My Own" indeed. Some of the late 60's / early 70's flirtations with the sounds of the counterculture are interesting -- like the session where Lightnin' is backed by members of The 13th Floor Elevators, FREE FORM PATTERNS, or a set of "previously unreleased" LA recordings Verve put out in the 90's (the title escapes me, sorry) -- but I would not consider them high priorities.

Have heard Ajemian in duets with Josephine Foster (Born Heller) and Matt Bauder. For those who know it, how does this release stack up / compare to the bassist's work with Bauder in particular?

Though I don't read him much (or at all) any more, WSB is, after Twain, probably the most important satirist America has ever produced. http://vispo.com/cgi-bin/wonder/cutup/cutup.cgi

Saw this while passing through a local Borders today... thought it might be of interest to the board populace at large... STOPSMILING: THE MAGAZINE FOR HIGH-MINDED LOWLIFES Issue #34: The Jazz Issue COVER STORIES ORNETTE COLEMAN + BOBBY HUTCHERSON + A TRIBUTE TO ERIC DOLPHY INTERVIEWS Ron Carter + Joe Chambers + Ira Gitler + Olu Dara + Lawrence Lucie + George Wein + Jeff Parker + Michael Cuscuna + Lorraine Gordon, owner of the Village Vanguard INTERVIEW & PHOTO ESSAY William Claxton on Jazz Life TRIBUTES Patricia Barber on NINA SIMONE + John Corbett on PETER BROTZMANN + Jim Dempsey on KEN VANDERMARK + Dick Buckley on TOMMY DORSEY EXCERPTS Ben Ratliff on JOHN COLTRANE (From Coltrane: The Story of a Sound) Arthur Taylor talks to MILES DAVIS (From Notes and Tones) Gary Giddins on THELONIOUS MONK (From Visions of Jazz) ESSAYS "Empty Forest Blues" by Phil Schaap "Letter From New Orleans: The Story of the Hot 8 Brass Band" by Richmond Eustis "Costuming the Super Anti-Hero: Sun Ra & Moondog" by Jamie Hayes "Keith Jarrett, Cross-Referencer" by Jonathan Rosenbaum VISUAL RESPONSE Art director and critic Steven Heller offers his impressions on the designs of classic jazz record sleeves FILM Seymour Cassel and Al Ruban on JOHN CASSAVETES + Edward Bland on The Cry of Jazz + Essential jazz DVDs LIMITED EDITION 7” SINGLE Two rare recordings from 1965 by German saxophonist Peter Brötzmann & MORE

More solo piano literature... Federico Mompou. Perhaps ultimately more Satie-like than Debussy-esque. Then again, you might not paint landscapes in Catalonia the way you would in a landscape in Le Havre.

Charles Tomlinson Griffes I prefer the Noel Lee recordings on Nonesuch, but I do not know how readily available they are.

Ornette and Prime Time were featured one night during the ill-fated 1980 season (I believe). I thought there was evidence of this on Youtube, but I cannot locate it at the moment. Captain Beefheart was also a musical guest in 1980, IIRC. The most memorable of these "I watched it live" performances? For me, Neil Young in 1989, doing a killer version of "No More" from FREEDOM.