Rabshakeh

Interesting! From your description of it I am sure that is one of the two Shipp concerts that I was referring to above. That was a great gig. I remember condensation dripping down everywhere. I for some reason took a bunch of non-jazz fans there that night and they were as absorbed as I was, and still talk about it. RIP the Red Rose.

I agree that Butcher probably plays at his best solo, but I do find myself returning to his trio and quartet work a lot too - he is a player who thrives in different group and physical settings. I wouldn't want to be without Summer Skyshift or News from the Shed or Way Out Northwest: even if Butcher's own saxophone playing is not quite as inventive as on e.g. Fixations (14), he has to find different solutions to apply it. I've seen Shipp live probably more than any other player in jazz or improv, which is weird because I'd never class him as a favourite. Twice though when I have seen him play solo he has been really excellent - starting with a deliberately corny choice of material and then breaking it down and moving into exciting territory that brings to mind early Don Pullen (or possibly CT). But I have never heard him do anything like that on record (DNA with Parker is possibly the closest). A lot of his recorded solo or small group stuff seems too lush - Your Scriabin comparison is very apt - and, as I mentioned above, I found his David S Ware stuff retrograde and a bit boring, particularly in view of what else was out there at the time.

It's quite a change in cover art, isn't it? The vibe of the original photograph is amazing. Then the move to the stark pink/white/black colour scheme of the reissue.

Interesting. Back in the 90s when I was listening to Shipp perhaps more than I do now, I was sometimes frustrated at how traditional his comping was and how much leeway he gave to his front line. On lots of those David S Ware records he seemed to be merely enabling the saxophonist, or at most trying to spin things out and along. Given what other pianists like Schlippenbach, Schweizer or Crispell were up to at the time, challenging their front lines and dictating where the improvisation would progress, I used to think Shipp was too traditional and that too happy to take a subordinate accompanist/soloist role, rather than the new opportunities offered by the more democratic improv models that were then emerging. I had thought he'd improved recently - I really liked Morph from last year with Nate Wooley - but I hadn't heard him playing yet with a saxophonist like Butcher or Dunmall that has less of an immediate stylistic connection with the various American avantgarde jazz traditions. Certainly, I enjoyed this record and would second D.D.'s original recommendation. I've been listening to too much Butcher recently (he's easily among my favourite saxophonists of the last two decades) and it is refreshing to hear him pushed so far out of his usual zone of operations by what Shipp was doing. In place of the usual stalking improv predator was a caged bear that had to dance when Shipp told him too. And, as D.D. points out, the results were ... jazzy.

I like that record a lot. It’s nice to end a weekend with a record like that.

I've listened to this a few times over the weekend. I like it. It is pretty confrontational: Shipp gives Butcher very little space and he has to squeeze in where he can.

Incredible. Thanks so much for the response.

Okay. A work of genius then a work of Butcher and Shipp. I'm going to spring.

What is that shirt?

Crazy how much stuff gets released the day before BandCamp Friday. My phone was going mad with notifications all night.

Frank Lowe - The Flam (Black Saint 1976) Chad Taylor - Myths and Morals (Ears&eyes, 2018) Griot Galaxy - Kins (Black & White 1981)

I haven't listened to the E and F sides yet. How do you rate them compared to the original.

Reflections on Ornette Coleman and the Stone House by Borah Bergman and Hamid Drake (Soul Note, 1995). Tuesday night fire.

Just watched the trailer and it looks great.

I didn't realise this was the original cover. It is a whole lot more intense than the fantasy oriented CD version.

The livestream thing was delayed due to an issue with the tapes. Hopefully not something serious.

Funny - I was going to ask the same this morning. I've heard nothing further from them, myself.

Slaves Mass and Air Time: some really great music in this one. Looking forward to checking out the Strozier.

That and their previous are some of my favourites on Clean Feed. Incredible cover art.

Thinking in Jazz: The Infinite Art of Improvisation by Paul F. Berliner. It's structured as a "jazz ethnography", and focuses a lot on how improvisers learn and grow. As a non-musician I am finding it interesting.

Thanks everyone for these recommendations. Sadly, it is very patchy. Nine Winds is one of those labels for which I would happily go mad if more was available on Bandcamp.

Over on the new Albums You Should Own thread, there’s some discussion about Vinny Golia. He also popped up on the Vinyl thread too recently. He’s not an easy artist to track down - lots of releases; very little that is easily available to sample online; comparatively low profile in the jazz press (since the 90s). I have only recently discovered him as a result. I noticed that there was no dedicated Vinny Golia thread, and thought, given the recent mentions, that it would be a good time to start one. So - What are your thoughts, favourites, recommendations, happiest memories of Mr. Golia?

Sorry to resurrect and old post. I've been listening to Kang's Tokebi which he did with Kim Seok Chul in the early nineties. I've seen him referred to in hushed tones as a major figure on the Korean scene, but I've never actually seen any disk of his other than Tokebi being put forward. Does anyone know of any of other records that he put out that they would recommend? If nothing else it would help to vary my current Daunik splurge.

The Iron Men by Woody Shaw (Muse, 1982). A crazy line up. It's most fun to hear Woody and Muhal playing so well together.

Bill Dixon - Tapestries for Small Orchestra (Firehouse 12, 2019) I haven't listened to this one for a while, and I had forgotten how good it is. Five ethereal trumpets gliding over and through a swamp of bass clarinet, cello, double bass and marimba. Perhaps more work might have been done on the rather generic cover.