Д.Д.

Well, it's all drenched in reverb and sure, muddy it is (at least the Eicher productions are - not so for other producers, like Steve Lake or Sun Chung, whose works are exemplary from the sound standpoint).

How do you mean, sound-wise?

Well, I don't like ECM. The few ECMs I enjoy are the earlier ones and / or are NOT produced by Eicher. Some of my favorite ECMs were actually not even on ECM originally, but on JAPO. But here is one ECM release that I really like: Hal Russell - "Hal's Bells" (1992, produced by Steve Lake)

As a digression, does anybody know how "Alex Schlippenbach" became "Alexander von Schlippenbach"? When and why did this thoroughly decadent bourgeois transgression occur? Did he face the just opprobrium from the comrades for this?

A bunch of Roaratorio McPhee releases are available on Spotify as of recently. These are OOP LP-only releases. Solo: The Lost Tapes: https://open.spotify.com/album/1oElXC9EcjqrgwZhlVHkFA Babylon: https://open.spotify.com/album/0bX4eKcBbxx1eaBo5JxUJr Alto: https://open.spotify.com/album/4J1fvrDdPHANHjleXK6Avo Soprano: https://open.spotify.com/album/0VLwvwox7yEIIl3JXj9NUa Everything Happens for a Reason: https://open.spotify.com/album/7qBkGKn0fSm6vwuWx2q7w6

It can't get more ridiculous, can it?

Would you say Pharoah Sanders went through the same transition? Equally successfully? I actually don't like Shepp that much - neither the early stuff, nor the recent one. But I do love the later-period Sanders.

Yes, the interests and wishes of rights holders should be respected and accommodated, whenever practicable. And come on, I am not talking about forced digitization and dissemination of private diaries held in family estates. But whatever is in libraries / archives is there supposedly to be accessed by the public. And ideally this access should be enabled through modern means to anybody who's interested. Coming to NYC to access some rare book being at a mercy of an archive specialist not to be turned away is quaintly medieval. Of course I agree that a solution cannot be reached on the level of one library / archive, but resources can be pulled together and state (or private sponsors) could support this.

Yes, exactly, good example. In XXI century having rare books in a library in NYC is only marginally better than having them in a private collection. This is precisely the stuff that has to be digitized and available to all, ideally for free or a minimal fee.

There is this CRI / New World release: https://www.newworldrecords.org/products/music-of-elliott-carter?_pos=2&_sid=db0b0206c&_ss=r . Available as on-demand CD-R or download and on streaming. Is there another performance you are looking for?

As a result, one of the world’s most notable privately owned record collections will remain in San Diego, to be shared with future generations. Yeah, this is how music is going to be "shared with future generations", on LPs and CDs through a library of a university in San Diego. I think if you care about music being "shared with future generations" you might want to focus on making sure that all the music that was ever recorded is digitized and available through modern means. This is not easy, but doable. Recently this was done with complete Frank Zappa audio / video archive (most of his shows, as well as rehearsals were recorded) through fan-sponsored initiative.

Karl, thanks for sharing this. Were there ever any recordings made at these gigs (or in studio)?

I have not heard everything, but I liked these two a lot: https://mikroton.net/mikroton-cd-61/ (on Spotify: https://open.spotify.com/album/2It0O8SEnHwjzj6mlP4dwJ ) https://mikroton.net/mikroton-cd-56/ (on Spotify: https://open.spotify.com/album/14zHLfis3zJnC6yMLWR7cy )

35% summer discount on (excellent) Mikroton Recordings label (both physical and downloads) on bandcamp with a coupon summer35: https://mikroton.bandcamp.com/ Mikroton albums are also available on Spotify: https://open.spotify.com/search/label%3Amikroton/albums Mikroton website: https://mikroton.net/

Nice one by Trio Gusano (Chris Stromquist, Matt Bauder, Shawn McGloin) - a digital release only, it seams: Spotify: https://open.spotify.com/album/73MhsYtlZc9w4LHvy9KiHR Bandcamp (name your price): https://chrisstromquist.bandcamp.com/album/trio-gusano

Nice write-up about Simon H. Fell by the frequent collaborator Rhodri Davies - as well as a beautiful solo harp performance (available as a free download) dedicated to Mr. Fell here: https://amplify2020.bandcamp.com/album/for-simon-h-fell?fbclid=IwAR3IhWtSV4dIobrYYjdBYPAG_rPWHZOUDgX-ohUyKn2Y5TPAJDggDP2kVaY

Lithuania, not Latvia. It will go faster than from Russia.

There is an officially released CD by this band, Road Tapes, Venue #2, recorded in Finland just a couple of days after the Swedish show you posted. "Dupree's Paradise" is there, and rest assured that Ponty's solo - as all Ponty's solos inevitably are - is nearly exactly the same there. https://www.discogs.com/Frank-Zappa-Road-Tapes-Venue-2/release/5120271

He wrote a doctoral thesis on free improvisation, "A more attractive ‘way of getting things done’. Freedom, collaboration and compositional paradox in British improvised and experimental music 1965-75": http://eprints.hud.ac.uk/id/eprint/34533/1/Simon%20Fell%20FINAL%20THESIS.PDF

This is very sad. Love his music - both his unique large-scale works, and his smaller formations (have enjoyed his recent duo with guitarist Richard Compte, "Panazol" greatly, as well as his two great trio groups on the quieter side of the spectrum - ist and VHF). This one is outstanding too: http://www.anothertimbre.com/page50.html (and costs just 5 GBP!).

I don't have access to my CD (the old 2002 Abraxas reissue, not the 2010 ESP one) to check, but the Spotify version (which is copyrighted to ESP Disk) does not have any signs of it being a needle-drop. The sound is actually excellent.

Yes. Good playing, which is consistent for contemporary releases, but surprisingly good singing too.

An outstanding player. Great technique, beautiful sound, good ear for melody. Loved his early ESP / BYG work, some of the best and original trumpet playing in the "freer" idiom. It was great to see him reemerge in the XXI century, "Minimal Brass" (Tzadik, 2005) is a beautiful, innovative work. Still need to get that Rogue Art release with Silva - will actually go ahead and order it right now.

Yes, as a part of this excellent box set: https://www.discogs.com/Various-Jazz-On-Disques-Vogue-/release/9587276

Mark Dresser - Unveil (Clean Feed). Powerful.