
Guy Berger
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Everything posted by Guy Berger
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My parents got me a box of Daniel Barenboim performing the 32 Beethoven piano sonatas (EMI) and I finally cracked it open this weekend. I'm the kind of guy who would always peek ahead to the ending in novels, so I naturally started with the last 5 sonatas. These pieces are amazing -- anyone who is interested in music should hear them. Some thoughts on each one: #28) Op. 101 -- The fugue in the finale is really something. Beethoven had some other famous fugues (the Grosse Fuge for string quartet, the finale of the Hammerklavier) and those tend to be heavy, challenging pieces of music; they're the musical equivalent of Coltrane's late work in terms of density and intensity of ideas. But the #28 finale mixes contrapuntal complexity with Beethoven's wit and humor. (At least, I find it humorous.) #29) Op. 106 "Hammerklavier" -- This thing is massive, a monument to a composer's genius. I'm trying to wrap my head around the gargantuan 22 minute slow movement but am not quite there. The opening section is a piece in itself. And the 12 minute finale is one of the wildest, craziest fugues I've ever heard. It's like Bach on Crack. Wow. Numbers 30-32 retreat from the scale of the Hammerklavier. But this is some of the most personal, moving music I've heard. #30) Op. 109 -- The theme and variations movement finale is unbelievable. The theme is simply, beautiful and unaffected, the variations all fascinating. (You can listen to a recording of this piece on NPR.) #31) Op. 110 -- A sad, even depressing slow movement. Then the finale begins with a calm but upbeat fugue. The slow, depressing music returns. But then a series of chords, each one louder than the previous one, bring back the fugue. The fugue starts dark but then suddenly brightens up. The final mood is one of joy and serenity. #32) Op. 111 -- The opening movement is very Beethovenian, lots of loud chords and drama. The closing movement is another 20 minutes of theme and variations. See the comments for #30.
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Wow, that's one of the dumbest things I've ever heard! Guy
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Hey, I'm all for musicians tackling A Love Supreme and reinventing it. But when you're dealing with a composition as personal as ALS (and this composition clearly meant a lot to Trane), I think you should show deep respect and understanding for what the composer was trying to achieve. Instead, Santana's new conception of the piece sounds like empty glitz and bombast (orchestra, "all the musicians in tuxedos"). If the guy respects Trane and A Love Supreme, then he should cut the superficial crap and approach this work with the seriousness it deserves. Guy
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I have a bias toward the quartet sessions that I just can't help, so I voted for Et cetera. Adam's Apple and Ju Ju would be second and third, though I don't know in what order.
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I think the emotional power of this music is a big draw for me, but I have to say I also appreciate the nuts-and-bolts part of it too. Some music from that time and place leans heavily on the emotional power and when it works, that's great, but otherwise can fall flat or seem a bit shallow. Whereas with Trane's late music, the intellectual and emotional aspects are so tightly intertwined... Guy
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You are off to a good start! I wouldn't worry too much about listening to things in a chronological order -- Trane was experimenting with a bunch of different approaches in the final two years and his progression wasn't obviously linear. I started with Meditations, but the two albums that really developed my understanding of this music are Sun Ship and Interstellar Space. Sun Ship is important because it takes the "classic quartet" concept as far as it could go; Interstellar Space is important because it highlights the unfettered flow of Trane's ideas (and he was full of them around this time), unencumbered by piano or bass. Aside from those two recordings, Ascension is the first of his "expanded group" experiments. This is sort of avant-garde equivalent of a Prestige blowing session -- some powerful solos by Trane and others (and incredible ensemble-improv sections), but a little lacking in structure for my tastes. Kulu Se Mama has the title piece, which ties to the Ascension thing to African rhythms. "Welcome" is a beautiful ballad, an extremely tender piece of music recorded at a time when he was typecast for making "difficult" or "noisy" music. "Vigil" is one of the best tracks from this period -- a blistering, no-holds-barred duet between Trane and Elvin. The intensity just doesn't let up. Stellar Regions covers similar ground to Interstellar Space but within a quartet context. There's some beautiful music here ("Offering", "Seraphic Light", etc). Guy
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Wow, I'd really like to go to both of these. Paul Bley / Gary Peacock / Paul Motian, February 4-7 Tribute to Ed Blackwell: Joe Lovano / Andrew Cyrille, February 25-26
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I think you hit the nail on the head. It may be just 20/20 hindsight, but Miles always claimed that he knew Trane was special by '55. Guy
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Choosing the sex of your child...
Guy Berger replied to Jim Alfredson's topic in Miscellaneous - Non-Political
China, in fact, has a massive gender imbalance due to the one-child policy -- I read somewhere that there is a surplus of about 50 million males. This could lead to massive social unrest! Guy p.s. I wonder if it will get to the point where China starts importing brides from the rest of the world. Or exporting husbands, for that matter. -
Furthermore, could anyone comment on the CD sound of the hybrids? I only have a CD player and was thinking of picking up Dolphy's Out There. I don't own it yet and am not sure whether I want to pay almost double the price. Guy
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I was listening to the first album the Miles Quintet recorded for Prestige (the one from Nov '55, with "Stablemates") and some of Trane's playing sounds a little tentative. I think this persisted on some of the '56 Prestige recordings, but I don't hear it on the Columbia recordings from the same period. Guy
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Good to hear you are alright, Alexander. Guy
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Extensions came out in '98 and I haven't had any serious problems with the sound. Gary also played with Miles in the early 70s: Live Evil is pretty good, but he sounds better on the '71 European tour. Guy
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Lord of the Rings: Return of the King
Guy Berger replied to Guy Berger's topic in Miscellaneous - Non-Political
Which sequence? I wish they'd done the Scouring of the Shire, and it would have been cool to have the dialogue between Saruman and Gandalf in the Orthanc. But other than that, it's impressive how close they managed to stay to the spirits of many scenes (especially Eowyn and the Nazgul, and the Grey Havens). Guy -
I've always thought it was pretty boring, even the live stuff. The best parts are "Sightseeing", "Black Market", and (especially) "Badia/Boogie Woogie Waltz". Guy
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pianist Vijay Iyer - anybody heard of this guy???
Guy Berger replied to Rooster_Ties's topic in Artists
I saw him about a month ago. It was good but heavy. Guy -
Lord of the Rings: Return of the King
Guy Berger replied to Guy Berger's topic in Miscellaneous - Non-Political
That was my feeling as well. I thought the ending was terrific, Jackson really did justice to Tolkien's vision. And the battle of Pelennor Fields.... let's just say Helm's Deep was a joke in comparison. Guy -
AOW November 16-22 -SAM RIVERS Fuchsia Swing Song
Guy Berger replied to Man with the Golden Arm's topic in Album Of The Week
If the sound *is* a major improvment in the Conn, then I will have to pick that up. I totally missed this AotW back when it happened, but what a marvelous album! Somebody on the Miles Davis list suggested that "Cyclic Episode" sounds a lot like the 2nd Quintet with Miles laying out -- Sam even sounds a little like Wayne here. Guy -
I'm so psyched about this... I've got my 8:15 PM Wednesday night tickets. Guy
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AOTW 12/15-12/21: OUT TO LUNCH Eric Dolphy
Guy Berger replied to Big Al's topic in Album Of The Week
Davis filled in for Carter a couple of times. There's a live recording from '66 (Portland ME, I believe) that has him on board, though I don't remember much about it offhand. Guy -
Here's are two from a while back, but I think they are OOP: Sonny Sharrock, Ask the Ages Joe Zawinul, Zawinul
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John -- A couple of recordings in this tree are not in the Wild discography, including the Down Beat Jazz Festival performance w/Archie Shepp and the balance of the 9/30/65 Seattle concert w/Pharoah and Donald Garrett. Guy
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I have been listening to recordings of the Coltrane Quartet from March '65 at the Half Note. This is some incredible music, crappy sound quality not withstanding. If you listen to only the officially recorded stuff, it seems like he underwent a very rapid change in style, from A Love Supreme in December to recordings like Transition and Vigil, onto the final quartet recordings on Sun Ship and First Meditations. What these live recordings show is that the Quartet was already performing at Sun Ship - level intensity months earlier. The 3/19 show has a boiling version of "Impressions", and the 3/26 "One Up, One Down" has one of the most incredible Trane-Elvin duets I've heard. Highly recommended!! Guy
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I thought I'd start this thread so people can chip in when something goes out of print -- it's very frustrating to hold off on buying something and then discover that it's vanished. Maybe this way we will have a chance to snag it before that happens. Guy