Д.Д.

By the way, I got the Thomas Chapin "Insomnia" CD (Knitting Factory), and well, what can I say... I guess I'd better start searching for this 8-CD "Alive" box of his...

Please do!

I got it last year as soon as it was reissued (on Tomato records). I listened to it only once (and not till the end, I think), and it seemed very dry and acdemic to me. I'll give it another listen soon.

Friends, I am listening to Anthony Braxton: "8 Duets with Peter N Wilson. Hamburg 1991 (Music & Arts), and it's amazing. Now, I am not a particularly big Braxton fan (and the larger his band is, the more dissatisfied I am with the music normally), but here everything seems to work just great - interesting (not too "conceptual") compositions, Braxton in top form (on every intstrument, particularly on Eb soprano saxophone - burning stuff), and Wilson is such a tasteful bassist - clever, understated and 100% supportive. I think it should be available from themusicresource.com for $7. I know, it' more than twice more expensive than Leo Lab stuff, but the music is probably worth such an investment. Writing this, I recalled I have another excellent Braxton + bass duo record: Six Duets (1982). Featuring John Lindberg (Cecma). Lindberg is much more "flashy" bassist than Wilson, and it gives the music a more nervous edgy feel. And an interesting article from Thurston Moore on free jazz clasics: http://www.geocities.com/HotSprings/1392/FreeJazz.html

Looking forward.

Glad you like it! Equally delighted. Get the quartet disc as well.

I'm listening to this one now. Good stuff! I have a lot of Fred Anderson (all good), but not this one. I guess I will get all Anderson discs eventually. Powerful guy. This gives me an idea for weekend listening - "Two Days in April" - Fred Anderson-Kidd Jordan-William Parker-Hamid Drake (Eremite). Have it for quite some time now, but haven't listened to it yet. In case you don't know him, "Kidd" Jordan is of course the man to check out.

John, from the reaction of these two deranged gentlemen you can see that Arcana Major can affect your mental health a bit, so be careful. Arcana Major is Da Shit! Arcana Major is Da Shit! Arcana Major is Da Shit! Arcana Major is Da Shit! Arcana Major is Da Shit! Arcana Major is Da Shit! Arcana Major is Da Shit! Arcana Major is Da Shit! Arcana Major is Da Shit! Arcana Major is Da Shit!

I don't have that disc, but I do have his album Outland, which I really enjoy. How would you compare the two? I have Outland, and it's a good disc, but it is just an introduction to the fascinating story of Arcana Major. Gebbia grew immensely between Outland and Arcana Major. I would guess that at this point solo performance is the only way for him to grow further - his solo performance is so... total, that presense of other musicians seems just redundant. And it's actually hard to think of musicians that would make equal-level parners for him (he has a nice trio record with Peter Kowald and Gunter Sommer called Capuccinni Klang (Splasc(H)), though, but Gebbia takes it easy on them on that session ... and these are Kowald and Sommer, after all ) Arcana Major... is an incredible record. Gebbia's technique is absolutely unmatched; his range is enormous (I didn't even know some of the sounds he produces can possibly be achieved on alto), the clarity of each sound even at the breakneck speed (means about as fast as alto saxophone has ever been played) is phenomenal, and his two-horns-at-a-time playing is the most convincing I've ever heard; but the main thing is his ideas - his melodies have influences of the south-Italian folk music and Italian soundtrack composers (Nino Rota), and are always unpredictable, humorous and captivating. On one of the tracks he does some sort of 'Vivaldi's Four Seasons' Winter' thingie - pheeew, this sends chills down my spine every time I even think about it. In last three-four years I've accumulated several thousands CDs, and if I had to choose one that made the most profound effect on me - this would be undoubtedly Arcana Major / Sonic Tarot Sessions.

Gavino Murgia in addition to being vocalist, is a fantastic alto saxophonist and Sardenian bagpipes player. "Fantastic" means super-human technique and great sense for melody. It might have something to do with playing the folk bagpipes instruments, since this is already a second Italian musician (the other one being Gianni Gebbia) who has background in Italian folk music and plays some mighty saxophone. Talking about Gebbia, I assume everybody here already has Arcana Mayor / Sonic Tarot Sessions (Rastascan, 2002), which I consider to be a breakthrough in solo saxophone performance? What do you mean, you never heard about Gebbia ?!?!?! YOu can find some short sound samples HERE.

I somehow cannot warm to Sabir Mateen's playing - he sounds so formulaic and predictable to me - like an audio excercise book of "free-jazz" saxophonist. I was recommended to try "Devine Mad Love" - any opinions on it?

Raphe Malik's "Consequences" is unavailabe for themusicresource (I tried). I am interested in Bendian's stuff - the rest of the OOP Eremite stuff I will probably pass...

I recieved my copy from http://www.themusicresource.com/ Very expressive stuff.

I have all but one Last Exit CDs, and "Cassette Recordings '87" is my favorite. What a great band that was! I would also recommend getting a CD called "No Material" attributed to Ginger Baker. That's a band of Baker, Brötzmann, Sharrock, Nicky Skopelitis (guitar) and Jan Kazda (bass). Quite different from Last Exit - more slow, more bluesy and more melodic. Funny to hear Brötzmann's wailings over Baker's heavy steady rock beats. And there are two excellent guitarists! Good stuff.

Agree with your rankings of these discs. I frankly don't see why this sort of music cannot be created anywhere.

Weekdays 9PM-2AM. Depends, really. Weekends 5-8 AM It's 5:45 AM here now. I don't exactly know who and when decided that humans are animals active at day - as soon as I have an opportunity (i.e. vacation or even weekends) I slide immidiately to night-active lifestyle, sleeping most of the day and being awake most of the night. I feel more natural this way.

Tony, thanks for posting the letter of Leo Feigin. This clarifies a bit the situation. I believe sharing of the commercial risk between musician and producer is an appropriae strategy in the creative music "business". I was considerin investing in a Steve Lacy recording and CD release project (you can do it through the Steve Lacy Senators website), but then after I requested the cost breakdown, I found out that musicians are paid quite a handsome fee for recording. With all due respect for Steve Lacy and other musicians involved, I could not understand why they should not carry at least a part of the financial risk involved (e.g. record for free and receive royaltees from future sales), so I choose not to participate.

New FMP release of Mr. CT: INCARNATION (FMP CD 123) Cecil Taylor (piano, voice) Franky Douglas (g, voice) Tristan Honsinger (cello) Andrew Cyrille (dr, tympani) Excerpt from the booklet (...) Four musicians in search of a common pathway through time. The end is still open when they come on stage, when the first sounds are carefully placed into the space. Cecil Taylorґs highly individual lyrics resemble incantations and are a reminder to the poetic dimension of this music. What we experience and re-experience with the recordings is similar to the formation of waves. As always, in groups around Taylor, musical movements develop in broad curves, logical in themselves, cohesion and dissolution. And, as always in Taylorґs music since the 80ґs and even more in the 90ґs, views of unexpected tenderness open up. On the other hand we experience cohesion of a sheer unbearable intensity. Unbearable for consumer-oriented ears, for senses which are only used to react instead of perceiving and of being involved in a creative way. Whith this emphasis of the aura, with its intensity in the here and now, this music opposes the increasing virtualization, the disembodiement of this world. And, at the same time, it itself can be seen as rejection of the shallow materialism of the world of goods by igniting something indescribable between the polyrhythmic interlocking, the whirring sounds, the thundering clusters and the hovering microtonalities: magic. Bert Noglik Haven't heard Nueva Finlandia. Will do soon.

(against the background of Steamboat-like music) O-HO-HO-HO-HO! The ten essential Friedman recommendations are... . Later, my friend. I'll give you some. Friedman is really a wonderful musician. And yeah, the poems in the FRiedlander CD sleeve sounded enetertaining indeed - I will also find a book.

No, I haven't heard it - and I doubt I will hear it too soon, since I am in a buying freeze (I have to mention it as often as possible here, so that I start believing in it myself). Only OOP stuff. Only. Really. But do we mean Don Freidman by chance, one of my favorite pianists? What's Sylvie playing then - organ?

This is a fantastic CD, one of the best from 2003 (I thought it was released in 2003) - I actually raved about it somewhere above (or was it during the e-mail phase of our communication?) "Maldoror" is much better than a bland soap fusion of "Quake" on Cryptogramophone, in case anybody uses "Quake" as a reference.

That's a pretty cool one! It's actually a pretty stupid one, if you think about it. John, I assume you are buying all available Leo Lab CDs from Berkshire. For $3 per CD, you shouldn't limit your curiosity. I haven't listened to them all yet, but of those which are available now, the only one I would not recommend is Max Nagl CD (poetry recital over the musical background - pretty boring, I thought) - the rest, including Maneri, Bickerton, Alphea Duo, Statements Quartet, Remote Viewers, Chameleo Vulgaris - is excellent.

Listened to Y? only, and it's terrific indeed. Fascinating listen!

Hey Tony, how is catching up with Leo Lab stuff going? I am through 40% of the CDs at best, but so far I've been pleased with most of them. Well-spent $3 per CD. I am listening now for the first time to John Bickerton's "Shadow Boxes" and I am very, very impressed. Andrew Hill-inlfluenced for sure, but still a truly original voice - melodic, angular, impressionistic. Clever. Excellent support from Rashid Bakr on drums and Matthew Heyner on bass. Together with Pandelis Karayorgis, this might be one of the most interesting new piano trio records I've heardin the last years. Very impressed.

Of course I did. Buying more is easy - buying less is much more difficult. I listened to all of them except "Evan Parker + many people" one. I will have to listen to them again to form an opinion, but so far they all sounded very interesting. After I absorb them, I will display my bad reviewing skills here. I got True muze discs directly from Vlatko Kuchan, the co-owner of True Muze - I will check with him what the plans for the label are. Eremite Goldstein should be available from themusicresource. I am waiting for my copy to arrive (this was before my buying freeze). I also got a copy of Goldstein's disc on XI, but haven't listened to it yet. I checked some Penumbra releaases at AMG, and some of them have very positive reviews from Francois Couturier, who I tend to trust. I guess I will give Penumbra a try...