Д.Д.

What label is it on - for 4 ears?

Well, I doubt these sets sell like hot cakes, so the risk of them going OOP any time soon is not paricularly high (allthough who knows, some 3000 malefactors bought all the copies of Rara Avis CD ). If you place a large order (particularly for Russian stuff ), Leo will most likely give you a nice discount... and he charges only £1 for shipping regardless of the order size and destination. As for STN reviews of 'Golden Years..', these are the same ones that are on the Dan Warburton website.

OK, I'll bring you some more. If this got you interested in Russian / Soviet improv, I would encourage you to check out Golden Years of Soviet New Jazz series on Leo Records (at the bottom of the page here: http://www.leorecords.com/?m=catalogue&id=CD_GY). These are limited editions (500 copies), and they are pretty cheap ($46 per 4-CD set). The music is highly original (and diverse) and probably better displays the unique "Russian" approach to improvisational music (the CDs I sent you are a bit more in the "European" vein) Here are some thoughtful reviews by Dan Warburton: http://www.paristransatlantic.com/magazine...mar_text.html#5 http://www.paristransatlantic.com/magazine...mar_text.html#8

ubu, have you seen this: Taktlos ? A nice little festival, ah?. If I am in Switzerland that weekend, I'll definitely go to Zürich.

I am. 25 Sfr per CD is a bit expensive, but OK, the music is worth it... And you are complaining about the prices Crazy Jazz is charging for Clean Feed CDs?? Well, this is still cheaper than from Crazy Jazz ($19.4 vs. $23.9), it includes shipping, and all the money go directly to the label. I don't mind paying a bit more to a label or artist directly, but to reseller - no way.

I am. 25 Sfr per CD is a bit expensive, but OK, the music is worth it... Fly, Fly, Fly is outstanding, btw - I will write in more detail later, after I listen to it for a second time...

These are next on Intakt:

John, I would really recommend Catechism. I find it more interesting and original than Old Time Revival (which is also excellent, btw). Today got two new releases from Intakt: 1. Larry Ochs (ts, ss), Miya Masaoka (koto), Joan Jeanrenaud (cello) - Fly, Fly, Fly 2. Pierre Favre (dr), MIchel Godard (tuba), Arte Saxophone Quartett - 'Saxophones' Will listen and report here.

You have to be really patriotic to buy at such prices.

Saw Dewey Redman quartet tonight. Sad. Just a shadow of Dewey we love - no chops, no sound, no ideas. Didn't play too much - left the stage for extended aping for Matt Wilson (who is normally a very clever inventive drummer, but today was just banging), Rita Marcotulli (who was the best in the band actually, but also nothing particularly outstanding) and an extremely boring bassist (John Menegon). Then there was some silly call-and-response with the audience, and a little boogie at the end. And yeah, Redmond also played some very out-of-tune mussette a little bit. Hope this was just a bad night (it was the last concert of the European tour, and the band arrived to Geneva just a couple of hours before the concert - obviously tired).

Listened to Brötzmann's Nipples for the first time today. Oh yeah.

This one should be available at Clean Feed in a couple of weeks: Can't be too bad

Mengelberg-Douglas concert was fantastic. After the concert had a brief conversartion with Anthony Braxton who will perform solo (on alto) tomorrow (and I will ave to miss it - fuck!). Very sweet guy; thanked me profoundly for being a fan of his music. Told me that the performance of GTM by 55 musicians (performed at the hockey ring) recorded a year ago will be released on DVD in 2004 or 2005. Should be something scary.

Saw Gerry Hemingway quartet yeasterday - Gerry on drums, Ellery Eskelin on o-ho-ho, Herb Robertson on trumpet and Mark Helias on bass (acoustic and bass-guitar) - quite good although not outstanding: clever a bit funky free bop. Eskelin was good - pensive and soft, and Robertson was a bit overblowing. Helias-Hemingway section is a pleasure to listen to - totaly attuned to each other (well, they've been playing for 20 years now). Had quite a long conversation with musicians after the concert - all are nice guys. Eskelin was telling me about his new Parkins-Black-Eskelin recording which is about to be released; Robertson told me that Stefan Winter (Winter & Winter label owner) has comissioned him to write a work for singers and viola-da-gambas and he was totally confused about how to go about it all. He is also participating in new Barry Guy 'large band' recording (which will be released on Intakt), and said that it's enormously hard stuff to play. We also discussed the CIMP sound (Herb records a lot for them), he-he... All of them seemed to be pretty upset abut their CDs going OOP (particularly Gerry, who has most of his catalog OOP by now). Gerry said that Hat will reissue at least one of his HatArt records - but he really wants to see them all reissued as a 4-CD box. The quartet that was performing recorded some material and will releases it this year (on Clean Feed, I think). Gerry also mentioned, that Between-the-Lines label is not doing too well financially. Gerry also mentioned that his Erstwhile disc with Tom Lehn - Tom & Gerry is about to go OOP. I already mentioned it somewhere here - this is a masterpiece, a truly groub-breaking record, so grab it asap. I bought some CDs: 1. Gerry Hemingway Quartet - "Devil's Paradise" (Clean Feed). 2. Mark Helias Open Loose - "Verbs of Will" (Radio Legs) (after the concert Gerry and Ellery were standing behind the table selling CDs, Mark came up to them and said: "Push push my stuff, guys!", and was very surprised when Gerry told him they already had sold one (to me). 3. Thomas Lehn & Gerry Hemingway - "Fire Works" (Umbrella). 4. Gerry Hemingway Quartet - "Johnny's Corner Song" (Auricle) - this is a quartet with Robin Eubanks on trombone. Will listen and report here. Musicians' websites: http://www.gerryhemingway.com http://markhelias.com http://home.earthlink.net/~eskelin/

David S. Ware

I orderd most of them from Bill Smith directly, but haven't heard back (and my credit card hasn't been charged).

I assume you can get it from Moers directly: http://www.moers-music.com

Not a Crispell fan... and actually not sure how good she would sound with Anderson. Of 5-6 Fred Anderson CDs I have, Vintage Duets is my favorite, by far. Just retirned from Mark Ducret's "Qui Parle?" Band concert - boring...

Hans, have you heard Vintage Duets? - Fred Anderson / Steve McCall duo recording on Okka - there MCCall is perfectly complimetary to Anderson's playing.

John B, I'm glad you liked the Closed Mountains stuff. Let us know what you think of the second disc. P.L.M., I am sad to hear about Bley's condition - he is one of the giants. Of the discs you listed, I don't think I have any, although I know all the artists. I frankly cannot stand Roland Kirk now - I find his music extremely superficial and secondary. I ttried listening to some of Kirk's stuff recently (and I havbe quite a lot of it, since I was a fan when I just started listening to improvised music), but got irritated aftwer a couple of minutes... Weston I like quite a bit - particularly his solo stuff (the one on Owl (Afrikan Nites (?) is beatiful). I like this down to earht bluesy thing. Ivo Perelman is a recent discovery (I have got only his trio disc on Boxholder with Wilber Morris and a drummer - see somewhere above), and I will definitely be getting more of his music - what a terrific tenor sound (he HAS to record something with Brötzmann). Has anybody heard his recording with Scalvis, by the way (it's on Leo)? Frode Gjerstad... it's good to know that he has one more recording with Brötzmann - the one I have (Sharp Knives Cut Deeper (on Splasc(H), 2003) is ) Is this a live recording (Cadence seems to release a lot of those)? Haaz & Company looks great on paper. Johnny Dyani is one of my favorite bassists ever... is he playing with Brötzmann here? Let us know your impressions. And regarding Mujician (or any music) being edited for CDs - fuck, I hate this. If it does not fit, make a double CD (it really does not cost that much more) or put it as a bonus on other CD... A horrendous move from an artistic standpoint, and a truly stupid one from marketing: the sales of this sort of music are not affected that much by the prices (i.e. if the price of a double CD is higher than that of a single). And yeah, I also will probably see Mengelberg with Douglas this weekend. I am a bit apprehensive, though - I like Mengelberg a lot, but Douglas somehow annoys me...

I very well might, but more on a retrospective level - the concert here is on the next day after the one in Zürich.

I see that you keep preparing yourself for the 10-CD Feel Trio box. He-he. Did I mention that Oxley is my favorite drummer?

Isn't this the one that was re-released on hatOLOGY?

I will try to see Gerry Hemingway live this weekend! With Eskelin, Reobertson and Helias - whoa!! ubu, you remember they are coming your way (Rotafabrik) April 1st?

Well, it sure isn't me. Well, then it must be Chaney, who obviously took time off from posting especialy to concentrate on searching for Rara Avis