Rabshakeh

Just rebought Engraved for a family member’s birthday because I love it so much.

Therese also been tribute type albums too, e.g. to Charlie Parker, Thelonious Monk or Lennie Tristano. Braxton standards sets tend to be pretty divisive. He generally hands out pretty tough treatment to the tunes, which, depending on your view, is either a sign of a genius reinterpretation or a sign of someone who can't play / hasn't bothered to rehearse. Its provocative stuff. I'm personally half/half, but I don't really know the "more recent" (in the sense of post his entry into academia in 1985) standards sets. I'd be interested to know if anyone thinks any of them in particular stand out, including the new set.

I half expected it would be something like that. Oh well.

Still not convinced it’s the right one?

Thanks, good info.

A slight left turn, but I am currently listening to Alan Silva's Transmissions from 2000. I'm taken by Oluyemi Thomas on C Melody saxophone. Does anyone know anything about him? The liner notes say he's from the west coast of the USA. I don't think I have any other records with him on.

I like it.

Sorry to be very naive and childlike, but i had the uninformed idea that Tone Poet was for rereleases of the Blue Note back catalogue. Is whichever megacorp operating subsidiary that has the rights to monetarisation of their legacy IP just throwing in Pacific titles into the mix now too?

Thanks. Fundamentally, I wish that Braxton did what CT did with the Berlin set, and release separate albums in small runs. I will never in a million years have 12 hours free to listen to anything. If this was 6 double CDs (or, better yet, just 3 or 4 double CDs), I would be far more interested.

What is the GTM record that you rate? I'm always into being proved wrong. Did you purchase the set that you saw?

Anthony Braxton – 12 Comp (ZIM) 2017 (Firehouse 12, 2021) Okay. I was preparing myself to be not very interested in this one. I have been pretty unimpressed by Braxton's output for a while now (starting with the GTMs), and I didn't like the hype that this one in particular has been getting. The standards set released very recently did very little for me either. All that said, I have been dipping in and out of this one on Bandcamp all day, and I think I may have pre judged. Despite its absurd length, everything I have landed on so far has been full of ideas, great group interplay and actually quite punchy. Link here if anyone is interested: https://firehouse12records.com/album/12-comp-zim-2017 Its going to take a while to actually get to grips with it, but i.would be interested in other views.

Kevshavan Maslak - Blaster Master (Black Saint, 1984) A bit of fire in my veins on a hot Wednesday evening. This might have one of my all time favourite album covers.

Tenors Head On - Bill Perkins and Richie Kamuca (Liberty, 1957) I love Kamuca's Lester Young pose on the cover. A clue to what lies within, as if anyone needed it.

My late grandfather had some cylinders with some very mannered music hall performances on them. I can't remember their names. They hadn't really stood the test of time.

Kees Hazevoet - Pleasure One (Peace, 1971)

I don’t. The references are pretty obscure. I’ll check out Coolin’ Off though.

Oh, I see. Facebook 😁

Triple thumbs up

I have noticed that Braxton references James’ book at almost every opportunity, though, including in the more recent article from The Quietus (which is a more interesting insight into Braxton, I think, than the Grammy interview). It gets nearly a whole chapter in Forces (not Braxton’s own book, obviously, but he must have treated it sufficiently at length in the interviews to prompt such a lengthy recitation of the book’s theory by Lock). I take from his frequent references that Braxton considers James’ book to be a powerful source of inspiration and insight. It is an interesting one, because, despite its rather narrow thesis, Stolen Legacy does end on a very Braxtonian note, with a call for humanity-wide liberation and renewal through an embrace and understanding of what the book describes as the “Mystery System” of “Ancient Egypt”. (Edited to remove first para, which I think misunderstood JS’ point.) My concern, I guess, is that, in a world where 90% of discourse happens in the most shallow way possible on social media, the jargon used is apt to become the message itself. I have seen a lot of dismay on Twitter etc. at his use of this terminology.

I think the weird thing is he uses Fox News-type terminology. Otherwise, I don't read anything there that is really anti-progressive in any way. Note the passing reference to George GM James' Stolen Legacy.

One day...

It's an interesting one. Some musicians' greatest works were during the 10" era. Konitz might arguably be in that bracket (depends on my mood). They're done no favours by having their early work so mangled. It's good to have that at least, and available for streaming etc, but I have no idea why you would even split it like that in the first place. It is a cohesive whole. It's an absurd decision, particularly given how militant Braxton is about his work's integrity in all other ways.

Prestige is / was really something... Plus there's always Miles Davis super-cohesive classique Conception. An album that makes even less sense. I cannot believe that this is still not back in print. It is one of the towering heights of The Music.

This is great advice. Thank you all. Currently on the way to the DIY shop to get a hammer and some 2x4s. The toddler will love his snug new home in the back yard, and in the interests of childcare we will let him in for meals and musical education.