Guy Berger

This came out today, my CD is on the way but am giving it a spin on spotify... really good, a worthy sequel to Torn's superb PREZENS (which is a personal fave). A delicious slab of cosmic, noisy post-rock.

I always thought of Ira Gitler as a very articulate bebop "superfan", not really a critic. He loved this music and it came through in his writing, and made it a pleasure to read. I'd much rather read his liner notes than those by some of his more polished contemporaries. If I had to analogize, he reminds me of Bill Simmons. I think when he shifted into "critic" mode he was on much shakier ground but, who cares.

RIP. I am only familiar with his work via the final two Talk Talk albums but they are really great.

Have heard some of his stuff on Spotify... very good

I just picked up their most recent on Intakt, VISITING TEXTURE. I don’t think it will convert the unconvinced but it’s good.

@mjzee, thanks for sharing these (as well your various posts on the “new releases” page”.

Have listened to the first two discs so far (MYTHS MODES & MEANS and WAY OF THE CIPHER). Really great stuff, esp MM&M. It’s interesting how much more organic and loose Steve’s approach has become over the past 24 yrs.

The original post is basically a less funny, 67 year lag version of “the jerk store called, they’re running out of YOU!”

Yeah, I don’t really get why someone would care enough to post this, much less think this was a clever zinger. But such is the nature of trolls.

FWIW I listened to about half of the new Alessi (IMAGINARY FRIENDS) and it was better than I expected. Comfortably within the “American jazz on ECM” tradition, may be too sleepy for some but mild ECM skeptics would probably enjoy.

Not surprising given it is ECM. Would you recommend skipping the album? very excited about Sun of Goldfinger, hope my dreams aren’t shattered

1966-67 was the sweet spot for Cannonball in terms of balancing the focus/punchiness of his earlier work and the adventurousness/openness of his latest work

Was thinking the same thing. Would be a fun thread to start.

What’s in the next set of 25?

I saw him at SFJazz in 2017 and it was great. Our daughter was still in utero but must have liked it too because she kicked a lot during the performance.

RIP (and sorry for your loss, Chuck). Do folks have recommendations for Jarman recordings (leader or sideman) outside the AEoC? Guy

RIP Marty Funkhauser

IMHO this is one of the best / most useful posts in the history of this forum. Thanks @mikeweil !!!

I prefer Burrell to Green; both to Montgomery (who I think is kinda boring). I’m not a super-sophisticated listener but yeah, GG’s playing does seem more “basic” than KB & WM whose playing is obviously bebop-derived. For my taste Green is best as a sideman when sharing space with 2-3 soloists who contrast well with him, for instance IDLE MOMENTS.

I gave the live album PASSIN’ THRU a listen today. Great stuff. If you like Lloyd’s other recent live recordings (RABO DE NUBE, WILD MAN DANCE) then you will like this one too. As you would expect, it has moments of more outside playing relative to the more radio-friendly studio recordings.

Finally got around to listen to it. Great stuff. I like Steve’s writing for strings.

Coming into Kentonworld for the first time - aside from CITY OF GLASS, I had never really listened to him but obtained a few of his albums about a decade ago and finally got around to digging them out - CUBAN FIRE and CONCEPTS OF ARTISTY IN RHYTHM. Wonderful, enjoyable, at times (unintentionally?) humorous music, as long as you don’t get caught up in preconceptions about what good music should sound like

I certainly didn't come in via straight-ahead jazz. My first were Mahavishnu, electric Miles, Weather Report... I thought Kind of Blue was boring when I first bought it. People come in via all sorts of routes. Back in the mid/late 90s there was an influx of Sonic Youth->free jazz entrants. Phish/MMW and the jam band scene were another path. I don't know what the parallel is today, but surely it exists.

Questions I have when I read something like this: *Can* jazz be saved? *Should* jazz be saved? What does “saving jazz” even mean? Who cares? That said this is a wonderful music, if Jeff Goldblum leads one person to discover Louis Armstrong or Albert Ayler that strikes me as a win.

neither could i