Guy Berger

So here's a serious question. 35 years ago, maybe even as recently as 20 years ago, the audience of people defined by "I like Weather Report" preferred the group's Jaco Pastorius period. People that preferred earlier work were almost certainly a minority. A WR archival release program, if it had been around then, would have thought the 1978-81 "legendary live tapes" to be a no-brainer. As the group fades into history, is that still be the case? Or does whoever is in charge of the WR reissue program have a misconceived notion of what the fanbase looks like? Maybe the fanbase has atrophied/matured into "music geeks who like esoteric, retro music + people who like flashy bass players"

We should rebrand energy music as "the old thing"

100% agreed

So sure. But I think you could say this for pretty much every style. I think it's pretty clear that Wynton Marsalis for instance, was also exploring directions in which the art form can/will go. Even mature art forms - whether straight-ahead or free or whatever - aren't necessarily creatively exhausted.

RIP. A giant. I discovered a lot of his music over the past two years.

This is the show released officially as BLACK BEAUTY

There are 2 recordings from March 1970 (1 released officially) 4 recordings from April 1970 (1 released official) 4 recordings from June 1970 (all released officially) 3 recordings from October 1970 (none released officially) 1 recording from May 1971 (not released officially)

@HutchFan, thanks for the recommendation on the UsFive stuff. I haven't picked up any Lovano-led stuff that post-dates JOYOUS ENCOUNTER (Jones/Mraz/Motian) but maybe time to reopen the wallet. As I stated during many years ago up-thread, I like the guy's playing a lot though I am not a Lovano nut. He tends to be an asset to most recordings where he is present, especially ones where the other musicians would otherwise be too "sweet" or "slick"

I agree they weren't rehashing, but there was a strong "retro" intention to Ware's music that it shares with Marsalis's music.

What do folks think about the album with Bunky Green? A little relentless but I found myself enjoying it a lot.

100% agreed with the gist of this

I suspect if you told a recently-converted jazz fan that there were intensely polarizing “Wynton Wars” 35 years ago (or even 20 years ago), you’d provoke some confusion over why someone with ultimately minor significance generated so much heat. (That is, if the fan even knew who he was...)

RIP

Gotta pick some of these and the Cookers’ up

This is an odd way to characterize sexual assault and rape

My sense is that organizations, independent of political affiliation, are becoming less tolerant of this kind of thing which is a positive development. Weinstein, the Fox News folks, President Trump, Uber, Cosby... it's good this is all getting exposed. Hopefully in the future accountability will happen sooner.

It could also be a function of obsessive/completist documentation. Jarrett seems like the kind of person who would favor that.

it was a pretty long performance. Compared to what? My wife and I had a great time. We got to hear one of the most magical saxophone sounds in jazz, and he's still playing - just with less force than he used to. If you have never heard Pharoah in concert and he's playing near you, don't hesitate.

Yeah, I caught him too. Great show. He's got a great sense of humor but I was a little sad when I asked him why Ryan Ferreira wasn't with the group. "I can't afford to take a quintet on the road. I probably can't afford to take a quartet on the road."

My wife and I caught Pharoah Sanders and his quartet at SF Jazz last night (Ravi Coltrane is curating a "Coltrane legacy" weekend.) Pharoah sounded great as always on a mix of his originals and Coltrane-associated material, though it's pretty obvious that his stamina is waning (he sat out a lot of the 2nd set and his solos are shorter than they were a few years ago). The highlight was "Ole", with Ravi sitting in.

Hey folks - earlier this year I heard that ECM would be releasing an album of Mark Turner/Ethan Iverson duets this fall. Anyone know any further details on whether this is still happening?

And, on top of that, general ethical obligations/norms.

I think JSngry's take is the right one. (Though I'm guessing it's hard to determine which "off-label" releases are nevertheless legit in the sense that they're paying licensing fees to the radio channel?) As fans, it's enlightened self-interest for us to subsidize the maintenance of archives like this, whether by state radio channels or by the artists' estates. That said, if you are pretty sure that a release is illegitimate (i.e. they just downloaded it from THE SITE WHICH MUST NOT BE NAMED and are charging money for it) I'd say the opposite is true. Download the music for free and then spend the money on a worthy cause like Nessa Music!

So I've only listened to this a few times and I may be overreacting, but dang, this is a good one. Rhythmically it reminds me of Steve Coleman or Tim Berne's music at times (those pulsing, repeating ostinato rhythms), but the three-horn front line inevitably also recalls some of the inside/out BN efforts from the 1960s - Andrew Hill especially.

LF! I think it's Ben Webster & Associates