Rabshakeh

Armando Sciascia – Impressions In Rhythm & Sound The rare really really good Italian library record. (As opposed to merely good or tepid in a "why the hell are you all obsessing over this you clout-chasing freaks?!" way.)

Yeah. It was this stuff that struck a passing correspondence in head. Having reminded myself of what KP actually sounds like, that is really where the correspondence ends.

Similar gimmick actually but he's a weird lounge guy from the dawn of the 1950s. That record sounds like a travelogue record played through a music box, very much in the bad way.

Sun Ra – Concert For The Comet Kohoutek Korla Pandit – Latin Holiday

El'Zabar is putting serious time in for East London, it seems. He plays three or four times a year.

AMM – Before Driving To The Chapel We Took Coffee With Rick And Jennifer Reed I had a listen to this after it was mentioned a few days ago. Tatum is brilliant on this but I struggled a bit with Stewart: that sawing thing he has going sort of kills the rhythm.

I think that what has happened is that Pharaoh Sanders, Alice Coltrane, Archie Shepp and Sun Ra how now become very mainstream as "Spiritual Jazz", along with a few other names that younger listeners regard as similar, like Dorothy Ashby. I know lots of younger people for whom those artists represent their main experience of jazz. It is quite specific periods for each artist, mostly corresponding to their time on Impulse! or in the case of Sun Ra, his move towards less obviously extreme music, and particularly the Languidity, Disco 3000 and Nuclear War records. So no ESP or BYG stuff. I get the sense that these records have an aura of "conscious" afro-centric spirituality with good visuals that appeal to the Instagram and tiktok creators, but they also have a transgressive edge from the fact that they are associated with the avant-garde, without actually being difficult to listen to. I don't get the sense that the wider avantgarde jazz is really growing at all. I don't think these people enjoying Alice Coltrane's meditation records are checking out Frank Wright or Lester Bowie, let alone more recent figures like Gustafsson etc. The three exemplary figures of the avantgarde back when I got into the music: John Coltrane, Don Cherry, and for other listeners, John Zorn, seem to be much less famous with younger people than they were before. I am always a bit shocked at the collapse in name recognition for Cherry in particular. More shockingly, I have come across really quite a number of people in both real life and on the internet who profess to like avantgarde jazz, who turn up their nose up at Coltrane. I think it is because the name Coltrane is too widely known and they, in their ignorance, mistakenly regard Coltrane as music for normies. The famous cover of "My Favorite Things" seems to get mentioned as an example of creative compromise or selling out, which is obviously completely bizarre. Ascension, which for anyone learned about this music retrospectively in the text based media era was the obvious example of an avantgarde jazz record, seems to be MIA in modern discourse. I think a lot of the reason for this is that the interest in these records is spurred by social media. I.e. the growth of interest in these artists is coming in large part from short form videos where an attractive young person shows you his or her "Five essential spiritual jazz records that just hit different" and then pulls out records whilst nodding. It is generally the same records on Impulse!. That is partly because the algorithm incentivises picking the same records (the more people that mention a specific record the more likely the video is to trend) but also partly because Alice Coltrane and Pharaoh Sanders and Sun Ra records look otherworldly and cosmic. A lot of the people making these videos appear to just be recycling the same themes, so there isn't much way to break their narratives. That may explain why the previously talismanic records are retreating: John Coltrane records just have photographs of him looking serious, Don Cherry records look a bit messy and John Zorn is not handsome and his records are all on CD. As a separate phenomenon, I have also come across increasing recognition of Evan Parker, Peter Brotzmann and Anthony Braxton, although typically not connected to actually listening to their music. I think that these three get held up online as "really extreme" or "really experimental", which adds up to name recognition and some curiousity. I went to see e.g. Parker or Brotzmann (RIP) recently and the gigs were full of curious younger people who hadn't actually listened to the records but we're excited, often having travelled quite far, listening in rapt attention. Again, I think that this reflects the fact that these people's records are showing up on Instagram and Tiktok as examples of the most avant-garde or experimental jazz. I don't think that any of this is really a sign of wider interest though, any more than the resurgence of interest in Gil Scott-Heron a few years ago heralded a growth of interest in 1970s soul and funk. It is just an intersection of politics, youth culture, nice looking covers and short form video. Finally, I should add that these "young" people are in their 30s. In generational terms the popularity of these records is strictly a millennial thing. I have seen no sign whatsoever that listeners under 25 are getting into this music.

It really interests me how Sun Ra has been defanged in the popular culture. Some sort of pivot happened around 2010. Where he went from being perceived as an exemplar of the avant-garde that Sonic Youth was going to tell you about, to being someone whose work you could use to sell tote bags. The focus has also shifted quite radically away from his New York era records that used to define him in wider culture.

Orquesta Ritmo De Sabanas – El Pechugon

Tony Scott!

Listening to this now. Impressive to sound this fresh.

Chips or cooked potatoes in a sandwich is very common worldwide! It is definitely not a Pittsburgh thing. Any sort of soft chip or fried or boiled potato is a natural with bread because it adds a fluffiness and texture that is different to what the bread itself is bringing. Putting chips (i.e. soft fries) is very common in Greece or in Spain or in the North of England (in the last of these sometimes just on their own, as a nursery snack, with ketchup, which is less exciting). Whilst it won't work with American style fries, try it next time you have roast or boiled potatoes and don't mind the extra carbs. You'll see that they really enliven an otherwise good sandwich. This conversation slightly reminds me of American friends' mystification at the idea of eating fries with mayonnaise, despite that being the condiment that fried were invented for, or with malt vinegar, despite it being so normal that it was the first crisp/chip flavour invented.

There are more things in heaven and earth, fellow members, than are dreamt of in your philosophy.

Gyros classic but chips or cooked potato in any form of sandwich just works.

That's a good record.

Ron Proby – Evian

John Coltrane - Infinity

Some unique branding there.

Probably one for the Brits more than the rest of the forum, but sad news that Rob Grant, the "Grant" of "Grant Naylor" the writing team behind the original series of Red Dwarf, died suddenly and apparently unexpectedly yesterday. For people of my age group, those first four or so episodes of Red Dwarf were pretty much formative. So this is sad news indeed. RIP.

I've listened to a few more of them this evening. I think after the second record most of them left so it wasn't really the same mix. There's a really sharp decline. Reeeaaally sharp. Now listening to this one: Obviously not the world's greatest record either. But not terrible. I find it hard to put myself in the mindset of Bob Thiele as he set about persuading a dying Louis Armstrong that he needed to record a version of "The Creator Has A Master Plan".

The Last Poets - Chastisement I hadn't really listened to the Last Poets before other than their first two records and Hustlers Convention. This is surprisingly terrible.

Gene "Mighty Flea" Conners – Coming Home I do love Black and Blue. Look at that line up! Phoooaar

The Reform Art Unit With Alaeddin Adlernest

So many of these records are sold in credible shops too. It is quite disheartening.

I believe you advised me to hire a car, which was clearly the right advice, although I didn't because the timing of the trip meant that any exploration was going to be limited. I'm actually quite glad I didn't as I found the experience of being driven around Phoenix fairly hairy in itself. Overall I liked what I saw of the city, which was unique, and people whom I met obviously loved living there. But I found the distances head-spinning. I tried to nip out for a quick trip to a nearby record shop on my first day, and it was hours of driving there and back, and that was without traffic. I've always wanted to see Philadelphia. Americans who I have met online and in person seem to regard it as American's most European city. In the online era, that comment is often followed by photographs of very un-European but pleasant-looking streets. No doubt it is the layout or something imperceptible that is being referred to. I've always wondered what it is actually like, but sadly it seems to be the major American city that I have had the fewest chances to visit.