Rabshakeh

Black Saint would certainly make a good thread, although I'm enjoying this one.

I love Sonny Simmons. Firebirds with Prince Lasha and Ancient Ritual were my entry points and they're the ones I would start with. They are different enough in setting and period that you get a good well rounded picture. There's a documentary out there about him on Amazon called "The Multiple X-Rated Truth". It has lots of footage of him and, weirdly, Anthony Braxton. It's compellingly unpolished as a documentary and worth tracking down.

Nice! That really is a binge. Let us know how you get on when you get to the crazy listening binge part. I'm planning something similar on Bandcamp this Friday (my self-deluding justification being that it is important to support artists at this time). If anyone has any crucial recommendations burning a hole in their head let me know - including any of the above (although Clean Feed's presence on Bandcamp is spottier than some of the other labels mentioned above). I hadn't seen this list before. Thanks - there are a couple that had escaped my notice. Useful stuff when, as you say, these records aren't really being discussed. Given the barriers to entry, lists like this aren't just a pissing contest, but serve a real purpose as a route to discovery.

The family are away so... Nonaah by Roscoe Mitchell. Currently on side 3.

He's 80 today. A real hero.

That's definitely the look! I'm partial to that Jack McDuff too. He's also a man with a killer art department.

All album covers should look like this.

Frogging by Mats Gustafsson and Barry Guy Artifacts by Nicole Mitchell, Tomeka Reid and Mike Reed The Solar Flares disk from Solo [3], by birthday boy Roscoe Mitchell.

All The Things We Are by Dave Brubeck from 1976, with Lee Konitz and Anthony Braxton on alto. An interesting mix that works quite naturally.

Thanks for the very detailed descriptions. An interesting set. Clangs is good too - it will be a nice post gardening treat.

What are these like? I've never heard of the existence of either, but the players look great.

I’ve certainly found that Bandcamp has come into its own during this period.

Have No Fear by Von Freeman. A newish acquisition that’s been getting a lot of outings.

The Guardian newspaper had a nice two-way interview recently between the comedian Stewart Lee and Shirley Collins the folk singer. In it, Stewart Lee mentioned the effect that lockdown has had on his listening habits, and describes himself as having "returned to the sort of relationship with music that I had when I was a teenager, when you just had to stay in and no one would talk to you." I thought it was an interesting point, because I have also experienced something like a return of the total absorption / obsession with music that I had when I was much younger over this period. I've spent far more time working at a desk with headphones in than I had done for over a decade, with no interruptions, and I have found myself returning to a lot of the free improv and jazz records that I loved as a student, as well as delving into new areas that I'd never really thought of before, like Warne Marsh and friends, and Afro-Cuban records. I'd be interested in hearing from the rest of you. Has anyone else had a similar experience? How has it affected your listening habits? What musical rabbit holes have you been exploring? Sadly, one other effect that it has had on me has been that I've fallen off the wagon badly and plunged back into buying vinyl at a time when I can't really afford it.

Oof. I may start my V5 listening with that Elements of Style, Exercises in Surprise album you mentioned above. 12 CDs is a lifestyle choice.

Okay, thanks. The fact is I don't know enough to be able to even piece together the different groups, so this is helpful as a guide.

Thanks all for the recommendations. I am going to start with the Fred Anderson / DKV one (I'm a big fan of Fred Anderson, so that sounds like a risk free prospect).

Hi, I've got almost no Vandermark in my collection and I'm hoping to dip my foot in. It was an incredibly large and intimidating catalogue at the time this thread ended over a decade ago, and it hasn't got less intimidating since. Are there two or three Vandermark albums (whether under his, his various groups' or other leader's names) that people would particularly recommend as a starting point? Thank you

Tyshawn Sorey's Pillars (2019, Firehouse 12). Still getting to grips with it to tell the truth.

Kwanza by Archie Shepp - It’s been a gristly day, and it’s good to have something uplifting. Thumbs up on this one!

Oh yes. I was my birthday, so guilt free stuff. I picked up How Deep / How High by Warne Marsh and Sal Mosca, In Sommerhausen by Marion Brown, a tatty but decently priced Have No Fear by Von Freeman, Unpredictability of Predictability by Jerome Cooper and Tenor Conclave. As you say, it would have been easy to have bought that much again. Impressive for such a small shop. The guy at the desk said that a lot came from the founder of the original shop's own collection, and that they'd made the decision to change the focus of the King's Cross shop because rare jazz vinyl is selling again. They had some fairly serious stuff up on the walls. Early Wadada Leo Smith / Alabama Feeling, etc.; records I was surprised to see.

Just been there, and I can see that. They have redone one whole side of the shop so that it is all second hand jazz vinyl. Reasonable prices too.

That’s a pretty serious haul. Where did you go?

Thanks for these. I'll give them a listen. The earlier recommendations were fantastic so I am looking forward to these too.

Mama Rose, by Archie Shepp and a Dutch keyboardist called Jasper van 't Hof, from 1982, on Steeplechase. I don't know much about Shepp's eighties work, but it's a definite departure from his fire music or gospel days in tone.