Rabshakeh

I had not realised that he was still alive. A great loss. RIP.

But to describe the effects of "Women taking over"? Lyrics aren't entirely audible on the version that I could stream.

Maybe I'm misremembering. I recall it being how feminism is taking over the world or something, and being really quite misogynistic. Perhaps I am getting confused.

The Jutta Hipp one is a stinker because she has a level of fame in the US and she is the one person the author was interested in at the start. But nice to see the others mentioned. This is such a dead zone for commentary and it is good to see that amateurs are interested. What struck me as strangest about it was the idea that this was just a French thing. Clearly, there were parallel scenes in Germany, Italy, Britain and Sweden, not to mention Eastern Europe, and the French scene itself was at times Belgian.

Agreed. It reads as something written by someone who is just becoming interested in the area. Mostly I liked it because of the recommendations

Is this the one with that weird Women's Song?

There's been a good recent substack on recordings from the French scene of the early 1950s: https://open.substack.com/pub/jazzbumsmike/p/jazz-in-postwar-paris-piano-masters?utm_source=share&utm_medium=android&r=az9yj

Some favourites: Maarten van Regteren Altena - Handicaps Mark Dresser - Unveil Peter Kowald - Was Da Ist Barry Guy - Irvin's Comet Domenico Sciajno - Broken Bridge Joelle Leandre - Contrebassiste (Taxi) Hard to pull off a solo bass record in my view. I have listened to many. Lots are excellent but few are really top tier. Given how important the *sound* of the instrument is, a lot comes down to sound quality in my opinion. If you're willing to broaden to cello: Abdul Wadud - By Myself Erik Friedlander - Volac: The Book of Angels Volume 8

Don Cherry - Brown Rice

Comus - Song To Comus

The NY club The Blue Note seems to be going through a period of massive expansion. There is going to be a branch opening in London and I think one in the UAE. I am always a little sad when anything that was previously unique starts opening worldwide branches. But it is an interesting development. Unlike restaurants or art galleries there isn't much prospect of dilution. It will be nice to have another club of its caliber. I assume that the club has infrastructure to send musicians on tours of the Blue Note network.

Saw Kahil El Zabar at Ronnie's last night. A good gig. I have seen him often in the last few years as he has become a biggish star in the UK recently. He was with Corey Wilkes on trumpet and Kevin Nabors on tenor plus cellist Ismael Ali. There seemed to be some tension in the group which I read as being centred around Wilkes, who seemed a little bit off. But enjoyable nonetheless. It is a good summer and autumn for gigs here in London and I have lined up quite a few.

Hip Replacement

Donald Harrison Jr. Presents The New Orleans Legacy Ensemble – Spirits Of Congo Square

Maggie Nicols, Matilda Rolfsson and Mark Wastell – Semiotic Drift

I really like this record.

Is this a new one? How do you find it?

Isotope is one band that I don't think gets mentioned much. They're stuck behind more substantial British fusion leaders like Soft Machine, Nucleus, Jeff Beck and Brand X, and I'm not sure that they have their own unique identity. But their records are sometimes more directly on point for the genre than those bands. Currently listening to this one (which isn't their best but shows how they could crank out records without seeming slick):

I really fell in love with that one after hearing it given pride of place in the sequencing on a Mr. Scruff comp of all things during my university years.

Thank you!

Bill Dixon - Intents and Purposes

Thanks! Great response and lots to listen to.

Ha! Library music big band funk from what appears to have been the official orchestra of Austria's national broadcaster. I can't imagine the BBC putting out a cover like that. It is very good stuff though. Hot blooded.

The Scottish vocalist. I've never been sure whether she is entirely my cup of tea but then again I haven't really tried yet. Are there any fans on here? And if so what do they recommend?

Fantastic. This is really great stuff. I am looking forward to the Schweizer, and intrigued by the forthcoming one.