Д.Д.

Zappa discussing McLaughlin a bit in '73: I very much doubt that Zappa liked McLaughlin's playing or writing. There are a couple of studio solos he plays where he does sound McLaughlinish, and these are boring solos (by FZ standards - I'd still prefer those to Mahavishnu-era McLaughlin). Here is one: Well, Zappa himself said that he rarely managed a good guitar solo in studio. He admired Allan Holdsworth, though (and plugged him on every occasion in the '80s) .

Ruth Underwood (Zappa's percussionist in the '70s) mentioned that Zappa's decision to add a second drummer (Chester Thompson) in '73 was probably influenced by him seeing Billy Cobham live.

Paul Smoker family releases a lot of his albums on bandcamp, including stuff that was never on CD: https://paulsmoker.bandcamp.com/

I saw him around 2011-2ß12 - not sure if this is the concert you are referring to. I thought the performance was quite pedestrian and left after a 20 minutes.

The latest (August 2022) Japanese reissue of "Africa" includes a 28-minute bonus CD with three alternate takes. Got my copy, but have not listened to the bonus CD yet. https://www.discogs.com/release/24640664-Pharoah-Sanders-John-Hicks-Curtis-Lundy-Idris-Muhammed-Africa-Deluxe-Edition

His portraits are classic

Where is he teaching now? He used to be at Johns Hopkins, but the JHU webpage does not list him among the faculty any longer: https://peabody.jhu.edu/academics/instruments-areas-of-study/jazz/

On the back tray cover it's written that the record is licensed from Timeless Records. Maybe Timeless has some deal with Cat Records (or acquired their catalog, most likely).

I second Colin's recommendations (well, I don't like Dunmall that much). Good label, although the sound on many releases is not the best (but not horrible either). I would recommend Haslam's recordings where he plays tárogató, he really mastered this gorgeous instrument. Many (all?) SLAM releases are available on Spotify.

Just released - the first-time CD reissue of this album: https://www.discogs.com/release/24627866-Burton-Greene-Quartet-One-World-Musichttps://www.discogs.com/release/24627866-Burton-Greene-Quartet-One-World-Music And CD reissue of Lady Bug Dance is coming in November.

Gaslini - "Multipli" (Soul Note) - good choice.

Good stuff, available on Spotify and at bandcamp: https://henrykaiser.bandcamp.com/album/renzoku-jump-henry-kaiser-remembers-toshinori-kondo-1948-2020

In my bandcamp wishlist (with another 950 albums, as of now ). Look forward to checking it out.

Simion is a fantastic musician. Luckily, his music's been well-documented. His numerous albums can be bought from him directly via bandcamp: https://nicolassimion.bandcamp.com/

I agree. Of Futterman's, I like this one with Jimmy Lyons: https://www.discogs.com/release/4213464-Joel-Futtermann-Jimmy-Lyons-2-Robert-Adkins-In-Between-Positions-A-Trio-In-Eight-Movements . Have not heard that Silkheart, will check it out on Spotify.

Nicolas Simion (with Ed Schuller and Patrice Heral) plays an excellent version of "Duke Ellington's Sound of Love":

And how about this solo viola version of Pithecanthropus Erectus by Paolo Botti:

Thanks, this one goes to my Spotify listen-to queue.

Actually, the album itself is not that great, IMHO. There is Charles's primitive plodding drumming (I think his style does not fit Bang at all - I can't understand why Bang chose to work with Charles so much), Sirone's high plastic nervous sound and mostly very subdued Lowe. Bang himself is not that creative in his solos, mostly going through the repetitive bluesy licks. This (nice) Coltrane tribute is not representative of the whole album.

Very nice BFT - thank you! #8 is from this album with great Frank Lowe.

I've been using Canon Maxify GX7050 (this is the US equivalent, I guess: https://www.usa.canon.com/shop/p/maxify-gx7021?color=Black&type=New ) for a year and I am satisfied. It gives you color double-sided printing, color double-sided multi-page scanning, two paper trays (I use one for double-sided and the other one for single-sided printing) plus a rear-side tray (e.g. for sticker paper or something). I have not used it for photo quality printing, can't comment on this. It prints and scans very fast. The ink lasts forever (these are not cartridges but ink bottles, you have to pour ink into a container).

Gavino Murgia Blast 4tet - "Blast" (Abeat, 2018) contains an energetic version of "Pithecanthropus Erectus".

Steve Lacy / Eric Watson - "Spirit of Mingus" (Free Lance, 1992): https://www.discogs.com/release/1238246-Steve-Lacy-Eric-Watson-Spirit-Of-Mingus Good stuff.

That Zoot / Pizzarelli track was the highlight of the BFT for me.