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From the website: ... this day and age we have access to excellent media for cheap recording and distribution of music: CD-R and MP3. Brax-Tone utilizes both; we make a CD-R version of every record on a print-on-demand basis, but we also make all the music available free for download on our website.... Nice.

Yes

My favorite Marion Brown is his duo with vibist (and flautist sometimes)) Gunter Hampel called Reeds & Vibes (IAI) - deep listening music. His duos with Mal Waldoron (particularly Songs Of Love and Regret) are also exquisite. Brilliant musician. I read he's been through some tough times recently - I wonder whther he is OK now and if we have a chance to hear him performing/recording again.

I would highly recommend listening to Too Beautiful to Burn, by Martin Siewert and Martin Brandlmayr. It is, in my opinion, the most beautiful disc on Erstwhile. If I had to choose one Erst to listen to that would be in the same vein as Wrapped Islands, this would be the one. I have it (bought it following your recommendation, btw), and I like it. Wrapped Islands is definitely less pretty, but more clever, IMO.

Have been listening to Polwechsel & Fennesz "Wrapped Islands" (Estwhile) recently - and that's some beautiful music. Not sure I will succeed in describing it, so here is a not too inromative AMG review and a page with samples from the Erstwhile site. Regardless of my inability to discribe the music - an uncoditional from me.

Thanks for review, Peter. Last time I saw the Tentet a couple of years ago, there were no special conducting tools. But Bishop indeed was one the most impressive soloists. Who's on drums now - Hamid Drake or Paal Nielsen-Love?

One of the Ganelin guys? Score one for the bearded gentleman in the produce section! I am not taking part in the BFT, but I can't refrain from complimenting Dmitry for his choice - you wouldn't excpect to hear Chakasin in a BFT on Organissimo!

Did you ever get a chance to hear this one? I just did for the first time and am very impressed. Just received this CD from CD Connection. Looks like they have more in stock (and don't forget this Cecil poetry disc as well).

Gokhan, thanks for overviews - looks like you had some great muscial impressions there. Stockholm is indeed a nice city - I am looking forward to returning there one day. Never heard of GUSH (although I know the members you mentioned from other projects) - anything you could recommend? Graves/Brötzmann pairing indeed seems a bit strange to me. Graves is an incredible musician (you should really check out his solo CDs on Tzadik!) - but somehow I just don't see his musical universe overlapping with Brötzmann's. Glad to hear thet Braxton was in good form - I was more than a bit disappointed by his chops (and ideas, actualy) after hearing 23 Standards amd duos with Andrew Cyrille. Did Gustafsson play the flutophone thing (a baritone saxophone reed-flute hybride) - that's some monstrous thingthat should be experienced live (ubu had to hold me from falling out of the chair when I heard it live during the Barry Guy concert)!

Many of the recent EMI, Warner, Sony and Universal (Philips, Decca, Deautsche Gramophone) releases are available here in brick-and-mortar stores for under $5. I've accumulated quite a sizable classical CD collectin this way. I am not sure I have much Erato stuff - are Varese CDs (Nogano conducting) on Erato - if yes, then I have some. Teldec, I have only a couple releases - Webern, I think.

That's a nice review. So there is a 4th disc by this trio on FMR... hmm....

Tony, I hope you are listenig to this set not exclusively out of respect for your Russian friend, but for the quality of the music as well. I would also like ot note, that Vol. IV is porbably the least successful collection of Ganelin Trio-related material. I am now devoting a quite a bit of time to Genelin Trio output (it took me some time to start appreciating their music), and as soon as I internalize it a bit, I will post my impressions here. Also, I hope you won't wait till the next Funny October Revolution Rat Day to listen to the Golden Years of Soviet Jazz Vol. I set - that's where the real treasures are.

Accidentally, I met ubu today, and he implied that today might indeed beThe Funny Rat anniversary. Even more accidentally, November 7th is also an anniversary of what we, Soviet kids, were taught to call The Great October Socialist Revolution of 1917. To commemorate both of these historically important events, I will be listenig to some revolutionery Russian music - Golden Years of Soviet New Jazz Vol. I (Leo).

I haven't - I will get it soon, for sure. --------------------------------------- I ncase somebody is searching for OOP Satoko FUji Loe releases South Wind and How Many?, they are reissued on Libra records (24-bit remasters. no less): http://www2s.biglobe.ne.jp/~Libra/sne/disc.html A list of OOP Leo releases, btw: http://www.leorec.com/?m=catalogue&price=Z

Listening to Medecina right now. Haven't finished yet, so it is too early to judge, but it sounds somewhat less diverse than both Nefertiti... and Noise.... Also, the bass is much less prominent in the mix (and it's a shame - I like Friis-Nielsen's bass)! Brötzmann, on the other hand, is recorded a bit too upfront, IMO. Great playing by Brötzmann, for sure, but a bit too comfortable (nearly relaxed ), no? Brötzmann has to record with Perelman - he might bring back the destructive elements in his playing.

Did you ever get a chance to hear this one? I just did for the first time and am very impressed. Waiting for it to arrive (the Cecil Taylor poetry disc will arrive too!). ------------------------------------------- Have been listening to Ivo Perelman / Jay Rosen "The Hammer" (Leo), and what a nice disc it is! Tenor /drums duo (mostly) in a good fire music trradition. Perelman might be one of the most intense tenor player out there, but he has such a great ear for little pretty melodies (when you don't expect them) that his playing never gets tireing ore one-dimentonal to me. Perelman also has this absolutely delightful altissimo sound - out of the top of my head I can think of only two other tenorists playing alrissimo so effortlessly and with such a beautiful sound -Ayler and Kidd Jordan. Rosen is a good drummer, probably a bit too "direct" for me - I would have preferred a bit of more subtlety and intricasies, but he is definitely more than adequate here. Together with this Eskelin and The Brötz-man, Perelman might be my favorite modern tenor player. Gotta get more of his stuff. AMG review -------------------------------------------- Anybody knows Happy Apple? This is a trio: David King (dr) - Erik Fratzke (bass guitar) - Michael Lewis (ts, ss). I saw them live a week ago, and they were just fantastic. Original and very relevant modern music played by fantastic musicians. Everythinig was on outstanding level - compositions, interplay (they've been playing for quite some time together), energy, solos. They have a website with sound samples http://www.happyapplemusic.com/, so I won't go into all the reviwing thing - check out the music. I would really encourage you to try to catch them live - I bet you'll be impressed. --------------------------------------------- During the same concert, I saw David S. Ware quartet (with Shipp, William Parker and Guillermo Brown) and this was a pretty pathetic performance. During the whole 1 hour performance I kpet asking myself "what for?", as element of searching was totally missing from the music - I felt it ws not much different from what Wynton was (is? - I haven't heard any of his recent works..) doing.

Yesterday heard the AALY Trio with Ken Vandermark "I Wonder If I Was Screaming (Crazy Wisdom). AALY trio is: Mats Gustafsson - reeds Kjell Noderson - drums Peter Janson - bass And well, despite my prejeduce against Mr. Vandermark, I have to admit that this is an absolute kick-ass disc - more or less classical free jazz, but of very rythmic and groovy sort, and with excellent high-energy solos (mostly from Mr. Gustafsson, who is amazing here, doing all this insane stuff on tenor and alto, but not going over the top into just screaming (as he tends to on baritone, IMO) - on the contrary, the solos are very elaborate and with a lot ideas. And it is not at all just blowing - there is quite a bit of an emphasis on composition (one is by Fred Anderson, most of the rest - by Vandermark) - and the compositions are also skillfull and diverse (there is some sort of a sobre free-hazz ballad in the middle). Good stuff - and does not sound derivative in any way. Highly recommended. AMG review

Never heard them. I am sure our firend Geoff would know them well. Will look out for some Necks CDs.

... and the Loe website has been updated: http://www.leorec.com/?m=catalogue&release=2004/10

Let us know what your opinion on this one is. My impression (after having listened to first 3 discs) is that it is close to a disaster.

All solo stuff is easy to recommend. "Koln 1978" is fantastic. Duo (Weyslean) 2002 is the one with Taylor Ho Bynum on Innova, I think - good stuff. The rest I don't remember.

C'mon December! ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Let us know what you think of it!

The series is caled Free America, isn't it? So I think one of the presidential candidates should make reissuing these titles a cornerstone of his election campaign - should really help with those ain't-got-THAT-swing voters.

I still have to hear a bad solo Braxton. I will probably go for them all. They might show up at zwei at some point, and might be somewhat cheaper there...