Guy Berger

This is a great album, but it's not a bossa nova album re the Cannonball recommendations - it's not my favorite Cannonball, but it's quite good and certainly far better than the allmusic rating suggests

Re Japan, I think "bloated" is closer to my thinking than "dense". (Though I prefer "unfocused" or "diffuse", and probably like it better than Scott.) I feel like there is a lot of wandering when nothing is happening, like the group wasn't caught on its best day(s). Re Seattle, I also think it's a mixed bag. The opening track is magnificent - the raucous saxophone choir on top of the burning Tyner-Garrison-Jones rhythm section is thrilling. A great glimpse at a path-not-taken. Some of the longer performances I'm less crazy about. The "Creation" track that JSngry posted - from the Half Note, 1965 - is one of the best Classic Quartet tracks out there, full stop. I'm in this camp too. I don't mind when he's playing, but would trade that in a heartbeat for more Coltrane playing. And I find Pharoah's playing with Don Cherry around the same time to be more satisfying, probably because Don provides more contrast. So I've agreed with you thus far, Scott, but this is a road too far. When I listen to SUN SHIP or FIRST MEDITATIONS, I hear a rhythm section that's 100% engaged and committed to making very radical music. If they're uncomfortable, I don't hear it. I'm not sure if Elvin and McCoy would have hung around if Coltrane had kept exploring in the quartet format, but it's not inconceivable.

I had my doubts about this before I picked up Steve's solo album Invisible Paths and they were quickly dissipated; as a musician he has such a strong sense of rhythm. On the other hand, I did find his first two Pi Recordings a little disappointing because of the light rhythmic feel

The main reason I'm skeptical is that it's hard to imagine recordings that exist in those archives that don't already circulate unofficially.

I've barely scratched the surface in this genre but the Coleman (INVISIBLE PATHS) and Lacy (ONLY MONK) are outstanding.

Isn't this "completeness" a function of the inclusion of spuriously-attributed works? As an aside, I'm not really sure anybody genuinely *needs* a "complete Mozart symphonies" cycle. You certainly need the final 6 symphonies (35-41), should probably hear the 4 previous ones (31-34), and there are some genuine gems among the Salzburg symphonies (#29 is a personal favorite). Everything with an Kochel catalogue number below 100 is skippable.

Pinnock is great!

He made more bad Bond movies then anyone else - not his fault, though in his anti-defense he collected the paychecks

Potter's new quartet album with David Virelles and Marcus Gilmore The Dreamer Is the Dream is very good!

Henry has a new composition being featured by NPR: "I Never"

Steve has a new album coming out on Pi! Seems like the ensemble is Natal Eclipse - horns, violin, piano, bass and voice.

Roscoe has a new ECM album coming out June 30th, a 2 CD live set with music from 4 ensembles (including the AEOC). Did anybody see the concert in question - I assume this is a must-by? From Amazon: "Roscoe Mitchell contrasts and for the first time - combines the sounds and distinctive characters of his four trios in an exhilarating double album recorded at Chicago's Museum of Contemporary Art. Multi-instrumentalist and composer Mitchell had been invited to premiere new music at the museum, in the context of the exhibition The Freedom Principle, which celebrated the directions in music and art set in motion by the AACM on Chicago's South Side. He offers what amounts to a composer self-portrait in continually changing colors and textures, reflecting on his own history while looking toward the future. Two pieces including the title composition draw upon the full percussion instrumentarium of the Art Ensemble of Chicago a panorama of gongs, bells, rattles, sirens, hand drums and more. Along the way there are remarkable contributions by all participants, among them a lyrical bass guitar feature for Jaribu Shahid on EP 7849, a heart-dilating solo by Tani Tabbal on Cards for Drums, an extended trumpet feature for Hugh Ragin on the title track, evocative and atmospheric electronics from Craig Taborn and James Fei on Red Moon in the Sky, and plenty of Mitchell's powerhouse saxophones throughout, from the piercing sopranino down to the mighty bass sax. The performance is concluded with Odwalla, the Mitchell-composed theme song of the Art Ensemble."

and later, w/Charles Lloyd on ACOUSTIC MASTERS 1

Hey folks, any recommendations among Sclavis's ECM recordings? I heard a track or two on Pandora which were surprisingly hard-hitting with skronky elecgric guitar, not stereotypically ECMish.

Yeah, those tables are a little difficult to read. (I'm used to it but I do it for a living!) So in February 2017 the US economy experienced: 5.3 million hires (people starting new jobs), 3.1 million quits (people leaving their jobs voluntarily) and 1.6 million layoffs (involuntary job losses). So on a national level these job losses are a drop in the bucket. For the local community (I'm assuming most of these jobs are in Bristol CT?) this could be pretty painful.

I'd put Sonny's Crib #1, Cool Struttin #2. The trio album is at the bottom of my list.

Job Openings & Labor Turnover Survey

Of course - but in the grand scheme of the US economy (1.6 million layoffs a month), it's _tiny_.

I actually think there's a lot of demand for this - just not necessarily with ESPN. (FWIW, while I suspect this is a major hardship for those who lost these jobs, the numbers here are relatively small, not massive.)

Actually, the cultural parallel that comes to mind is Medeski Martin & Wood. There were lots of responses by women musicians and fans on twitter and on Facebook. The reason "most of the discussion" seemed like "just a bunch of men yelling at each other about feminism" isn't a signal that women weren't interested/engaged in the discussion - it's that we're only hearing the people with the biggest megaphones, who happen to be men.

Absolutely.

The article on WBGO was a weird read. I guess it's a measure of how popular these guys got (by jazz standards) that anybody bothered to ask the band members how they felt about each other. FWIW, since it wasn't discussed here... I like Iverson's playing and interviews, and he generally seems like a wonderful guy, but his behavior during the Glasper incident was not his finest hour.

It's for those moments when you need to take squeakiness up to 11

I generally disagree. His most creative period was behind him. But past-his-peak Thelonious Monk is still Thelonious Monk - I will absolutely be picking this up.

I've always considered the piano to be the Cheez Whiz of keyboard instruments. If a real harpsichord isn't used, the music is unlikely to be of any interest to me. Also interesting to note that a lot of well-regarded straight-ahead jazz drummers explicitly incorporate rhythms imitating "drum machines" (term used loosely) into their playing. Coins ruined the beauty of the barter system forever.