Joe

"He collaborated with Gil Evans" indeed. He didn't just work with Gil: Kikuchi was a vital contributor to several of those 70s orchestra recordings. Case in point (and electric piano warning for those so disinclined.):

Too young. Actually been listening to quite a few of his early, Japan-only recordings lately. There are the noticeable influences (Miles' groups, especially), but even then Kikuchi had his own thing, sensitive but not sappy (dry, almost). Another player the likes of whom we probably won't ever see again; or, if we do, for some time.

Every track was laid down in one take?? That doesn't seem very likely at all. I wonder where these take numbers came from? Seems pretty consistent with the Weinstock aesthetic to me... either that or the Prestige vaults were wiped of alternate takes long before Fantasy acquired their holdings. Amazing to think one session produced that many intense, brooding, "full-on" ballads.

That Bill Smith record on Contemporary has its esoteric pleasures as well. What do you think of this one? Not quite Tristano / Konitz / Marsh, but not a complete stranger to that aesthetic either.

And then to make a solo record (FEELS GOOD TO ME) featuring collaborations with Annette Peacock!

Ralph Peterson and his Fo'tet as well as Larry Schnieder have both recorded albums entitled ORNETTOLOGY. http://www.allmusic.com/album/ornettology-mw0001160914 http://www.discogs.com/Ralph-Peterson-Fotet-Ornettology/release/2338869 The Peterson isn't a repertoire / tribute LP per se... it only features one Ornette tune ("Congeniality")... but the playing by Peterson, Don Byron, Bryan Carrott and Melissa Slocum is definitely Ornette-inspired. Also, one of the earliest and still one the finest interpretations of an Ornette Coleman composition (from SMACK UP)...

Seconded!

Another loss. Sigh. DYNASTY is indeed superb. He also made some excellent recordings with a young Jean-Luc Ponty and the wonderful Daniel Humair.

Most happy day to you and yours!

Not BN, but Milestone: TETRAGON. Superb stuff. not as intense as INNER URGE, but certainly as saxophonistic, if that makes any sense. I just mean this is saxophone playing of rare sensitivity; this is a player who understands his instrument at a profound level. Lucky Thompson, though a very different tenor, is another musician of this caliber. And I do wish Henderson and Don Friedman might have had more recorded encounters.

So sad to hear this. A true gentleman, and a fine poet.

Damn, this has been a rough year. Nobody but nobody got a sound of the electric bass like Squire. Very melodic player, too. That Squire - Bruford rhythm section was both supple and powerful.

If only there were recordings extant of that Newport Rebels group: Ornette, Kenny Dorham, Mingus, and Max Roach, IIRC. At least, there are photos in the Mosaic COMPLETE MINGUS CANDID box suggesting this quartet played together at the 1960 Newport Rebel Festival. Ta-da!

I'm a fan of Ed Blackwell's two Enja dates with Carlos Ward, Graham Haynes and Mark Helis. WHAT IT IS and WHAT IT BE LIKE. Though, really, jump on the Dewey Redman / Blackwell RED & BLACK IN WILISAU before all else.

Somebody else can confirm, but I think BN was contractually prohibited from putting McCoy's name on the cover, because of the contracts he had with Inpulse at the time. I sure they would have, but couldn't - or one would sure think. That is my recollection as well. I thought Reid Miles indicated as much in an interview [?]

http://www.slate.com/blogs/the_slatest/2015/06/18/white_extremist_murders_killed_at_least_60_in_u_s_since_1995.html More than half of these incidents have occurred in the past 6 years.

Indeed.

1) OUR THING (great band, great compositions) 2) INNER URGE (quartet) 3) Tie: PAGE ONE (quite the debut) and Pete LaRoca's BASRA... this is cheating, of which I am fully aware (and of which I remain unrepentant). Some of Hnerderson's finest playing of this era is to be found on BASRA, and, as he is the lone horn, you might even give him more than sideman credit.

Very interesting! Thanks.

A favorite not yet mentioned. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zd7Ij_kNAho

Defunkt, indeed. Throw in Laswell and what Material was / started out as, and, well, the circle grows even more unbroken. That record of Frank Lowe / Eugene Chadbourne duets (DON'T PUNK OUT) merits some mention within this context as well.

I 'll make no claims other than to my own experiences (limieted to time/place/talent pool/etc., but the players I found to make that band were all people who had been playing music that was more punk rock than it was anything else. Certainly wasn't the jazz players. They got the "sound" of Ornette's new music right away. The links between Ornette and the late 70's NYC "No Wave" / art punk scene are pretty well-documented, aren't they? Blood Ulmer and RS Jackson being key figures who "ran" with both crowds... though race was definitely an issue in the punk scene of the time.

Word. https://newyorkschoolpoets.wordpress.com/2015/06/11/ornette-coleman-1930-2015-frank-ohara-amiri-baraka/

Event deets! I’ll presenting alongside Robin Myrick, an all-star cast, and the stimulating musical stylings of Jim Sangrey & Summusic at the next Pandora’s Box Poetry Showcase, 7 PM, Monday, June 15 at the historic Margo Jones Theatre in Dallas’ Fair Park. Learn more about this event here. I’m very excited and honored to announce that I will be reading from (and hawking copies of) Crepuscule W/ Nellie at Houston’s iconic Brazos Bookstore, 7:00 PM, Tuesday, June 23rd. Onward, ya'll.