ghost of miles

David Ossman and Phil Proctor came through Bloomington last summer, and my colleague Aaron Cain got to interview them for our Profiles program: David Ossman And Phil Proctor Of The Firesign Theatre

Memoir by Sleater-Kinney guitarist and actress/writer Carrie Brownstein:

Mark Stryker's excellent contribution to Ethan Iverson's Charlie Parker centennial overview: Live Bird Is The Best Bird

Music from both of those releases in the show!

Thanks much for this review--I've been spinning this release from time to time on the Thursday show, when I feature Indiana-associated artists (both Breckers were in the IU jazz program during the late 1960s). I just picked up the complete Arista albums set but haven't dived into it yet, though already have a copy of Heavy Metal Bebop, which I like quite a lot.

Great news! I ordered a copy yesterday, but no dispatch notice yet, so crossing my fingers—also on the other side of the pond, so it’ll be sometime before it arrives, if it does indeed ship. Is the UK still under EU copyright law? No idea in the wake of Brexit how it may still apply to UK or where the UK is in terms of officially being out, but wondering if the 50-year limit is allowing this release to slip through overseas... given that the recording was made in 1968?

I'm extraordinarily grateful that Resonance continues to offer their releases in the CD format. I learned yesterday that a music-writer friend of mine has penned extensive liner notes for a new box set of the Athens, Georgia group Pylon--excitement on my end till I discovered that the label doing it is only putting out a vinyl edition. If it weren't for my friend's having written the booklet, I'd definitely take a pass... as it is, on the fence as to whether or not I'll end up getting it. I have a record player and do occasionally listen to vinyl, mostly when it's a matter of necessity (Mosaic's Commodore sets, for instance), but I never go out of my way to buy it.

Me as well! December 4 duly noted on my budget calendar.

Out Nov 27/Dec 4 from Resonance--this from Zev Feldman's Facebook page: SONNY ROLLINS on RESONANCE! Coming November 27th for Record Store Day Black Friday. I'm honored and thrilled to announce "Rollins in Holland: The 1967 Studio & Live Recordings," Resonance Records' first archival release from the Saxophone Colossus himself, SONNY ROLLINS. Released in partnership with the Nederlands Jazz Archief this limited-edition 180g 3LP set and deluxe 2CD set (out Dec 4) is officially sanctioned by Rollins and is comprised of 3 different previously-unissued performances with bassist Ruud Jacobs and drummer Han Bennink in May of 1967 at VARA Studio 5 in Hilversum, the Arnhem Academy of Visual Arts in Arnhem, and audio from a televised performance at the Go-Go Club in Loosdrecht. "Rollins in Holland" will include an extensive, over-the-top 100-page CD booklet and 24-page LP insert with a treasure trove of never-before-published photos from the actual performances, and essays by yours truly, Aidan Levy (currently writing a biography of Sonny Rollins for Da Capo Press) and my co-producer, the Dutch jazz journalist/producer Frank Jochemsen. I had the pleasure of speaking with Sonny for a wide-ranging interview, which will be included in the booklet, along with an interview Aidan had with Han Bennink and Ruud Jacobs at Ruud's home in 2018. In my interview with Sonny, he said: "I’m so happy that Resonance is putting it out because it really represents a take-no-prisoners type of music. That’s sort of what I was doing around that period of time; that was sort of Sonny Rollins then . . . It was very much me. And I loved it and I loved playing with those guys." There are many, many thank yous in order for this incredible project. I want to start by thanking George Klabin, as always, for his generosity and passion for making this the greatest Sonny Rollins package possible. This project also wouldn't have been possible without the support of Sonny's long-time publicist (and associate producer on this release), Terri Hinte. I'm so grateful for her support and everything she does for jazz. A special thanks goes to my co-producers Frank Jochemsen, who discovered the VARA Studio and Go-Go Club recordings in the Nederlands Jazz Archief archives, and David Weiss, who was a tremendous asset working with our engineers George Klabin and Fran Gala. I also want to thank the other 2 associate producers on the project, Resonance production manager and my right-hand Zak Shelby-Szyszko and Resonance legal counsel and album package editor, John Koenig. Kudos as well to our über talented designer John Sellards for delivering another absolutely stunning cover and package. Finally, I want to thank Michael Kurtz and Carrie Colliton from Record Store Day for their continued support in making these releases possible. More info at ResonanceRecords.org

We re-aired Big Band Bird: Charlie Parker With The Big Bands this past week, and it remains archived for online listening.

Right now:

New episode: Let's Call This: Thelonious Monk, Lost And Found Nice discussion of Monk, including the canceled Palo Alto release. (No revelations as to why it's been indefinitely shelved.)

From Nate Chinen and Greg Bryant's WBGO United podcast--they talk about the Palo Alto date (though they can't and don't play any music from the canceled release) and Monk in general: Thelonious Monk: Lost And Found

The two-CD set has arrived, but I haven't cracked it open yet--planning to listen to it tomorrow, hopefully, but project deadlines may preclude my giving it a really good hearing for several more days. Saw her orchestra perform some of this music live at NYC's Birdland in January 2019 and it sounded great... looking forward to hearing the final studio versions. Here's Nate Chinen's review: Composer Maria Schneider Returns, With A Reckoning, On 'Data Lords'

Used to have the poster for that on my bedroom wall when I was a young'un. Right now, spinning Quilt's 2016 (and apparently final?) album Plaza. (Though they did subsequently do a wonderful cover of F.J. McMahon's entire one-off singer-songwriter classic Spirit Of The Golden Juice, but it came out on a specialty label and received very little distribution)

Yeoman's work, my friend... thanks so much!

There are a ton of holes in this guy's analysis (not to mention his recommendations), and I'm not impressed by his citing somebody from the "Government Accountability Institute" (NOT the GAO, but rather a Steve Bannon outfit funded by loony rightwing oligarch Robert Mercer) telling us "nothing to see here!" about LeJoy's overt conflicts of interest. I'll come back to this later, but so much of this take is either disingenuous or naive--and yeah, yeah, I know he declares that Trump is a "malicious, authoritarian jerk." That doesn't change the gist of the article, which goes way out of its way to justify a lot of malicious and destructive outcomes from what LeJoy is doing at DT's behest. Time is short for me right now, but just a couple of things that jump out: >>The U.S. Constitution creates the post office and requires Congress to fund it. False. Several people seem to be under the belief that the Constitution mandates the existence or funding of the United States Postal Service. The U.S. Constitution does mention the postal system in a sense, but doesn’t create the post office or require its funding. Article I, section 8, clause 7 of the Constitution gives Congress “the Power […] To establish Post Offices and Post Roads.” It requires nothing; it merely permits Congress to act, if Congress so chooses. The clause gives Congress the ability to create post offices and the implied authority to create and provide services through the United States Postal Service. And Congress has.<< OK, I haven't seen anybody citing the claim that he's "debunking" here, but it's sort of like saying, "Hey, there's no Constitutional requirement to fund the military. Yes, the govt is authorized to create and provide a military to defend the country, but there's no obligation to fund it." WTF?! Also, Congress is *trying* to help fund it right now, but Trump is refusing to sign any bill that provides any assistance. I haven't checked on what the Senate GOP is up to in this regard, but ultimately it doesn't matter if Trump vetoes any spending bill--unless there are 20 GOP Senators willing to buck Dear Leader. There's a better chance that the Red Sox win the World Series this year. >>People have claimed that Trump wants to slow down mail delivery through DeJoy in order to rig the election. Trump, being who he is, proved them right by admitting it in public. He stated that he didn’t want to give USPS money because it would enable them to deliver mail ballots more efficiently. Trump is a malicious, authoritarian jerk; I’m not denying that. But Trump says a lot of stupid things, like Mexico will pay for walls and COVID-19 will be over in a month. And he technically has no control over DeJoy; only the Board of Governors does.<< A Board of Governors now dominated by a majority of Trump appointees, NOT the 5-5 split it's supposed to be. (Would love to hear an accounting of why those vacancies currently exist.) Given the way DT fires inspector generals right and left and wants anybody who doesn't follow his every wish booted out of their job (do I need to cite the many, many examples of this?) and often succeeds in having those wishes fulfilled, all with nary a peep from Republican politicians, this is a null argument. It's all right out in the open--Trump has stated his goal and has his guy in place to carry it out, however it's rationalized. >>Let’s assume that USPS is an essential public service. (Geez, generous of you to assume that! Maybe you should have mentioned the many seniors who are dealing with ??delays in receiving their medications as a result of all of this suddenly-necessary disruption?) This is a relatively safe assumption since Americans think it’s the most important role in our current COVID-19 world. 91% of Democrats and 91% of Republicans favorably view the agency. And USPS is heavily relied upon by business, including Amazon, UPS, and Fed Ex, to carry their package the last mile to residences and rural businesses that aren’t served by other parcel carriers. Should Congress fund it? I think that’s a double edged sword. I think it’s smart to keep such a crucial, independent agency sufficient with its own funding. I would hate to see USPS slowed or shut down due to severe budget cuts or a government shutdown. On the other hand, one time emergency funding wouldn’t be a bad idea. Regardless, DeJoy doesn’t have control over that. His job is to balance the budget. Only Congress can decide whether and how to provide USPS any funding.<< Is it DeJoy's "job to balance the budget"? Where is that stated, exactly? That's a policy goal, not a legal mandate. And no, it doesn't matter what Congress decides if Trump refuses to sign legislation helping to fund USPS. See above. Oh, and I love his rebuttal to "the USPS is removing many mail-collection boxes and destroying machines that are used to sort ballots." He says, "True, but they've now stopped!" Yes, they stopped because there was such an uproar over it. Thank you, loony left and social media! I get that this guy is not an "Always-Trumper," but this still strikes me as a lot of weirdly strained rationalization. He also cites several DT administration or ideologically-aligned officials without offering any perspective from the carriers' union or on-the-ground USPS employees... and they have plenty of perspective that's being reported, nearly all of it not good. More to come tonight.

That was a lovely and moving documentary--watched it in a single sitting. Thanks so much for hipping me to it.

Looks as if it is—thanks so much, I’ll watch later today! Young uses that trip in part to set the stage for his book.

Highly recommended for anybody interested in late 1960s/early 70s UK psych-folk (Fairport Convention, Incredible String Band, Pentangle, etc), its roots, and its subsequent influence on later artists and bands such as Talk Talk:

Reading Rob Young’s remarkable book Electric Eden, a comprehensive overview of the late 1960s/early 70s UK psych-folk scene and its roots, has sent me back to this album: