Д.Д.

Today actually I was listening to disc 3 from the 4-CD Braxton's "Six compositions (GTM) 2001" set (on Rastascan/Limited Sedition/Barely Auditable). I have this set since the day it was released (it costed like $15 at CDUniverse, iirc), and never managed to go through the whole damn thing. The first two discs are occupied by a mammoth composition for a large band that would invariably drive me to despair after 15 minutes, so I think never even got to disc 3. And well, it turned out to be really good! It is for a much smaller band (Braxton-Rosenberg-Shiurba-Sperry-Robair), and past the zombie GTM themes (farly short here) the improvisations are excellent.

Check out the samples at the Matthew Welch's web page. What a telent - both as performer and composer! Note that the solo bagpipes piece here sounds very traditional compared to the stuff on Welch's "Hag at the Churn" (on newsonic). There, most of the pieces do not sound like bagpipes at all (and morever, every trakc sounds totally different form each other - from quiet drones to fluid soprano saxophone-like solos to menacing multi-layered pointillistic suites and to some pretty indiscribably stuff). I haven't listened to his Leo disc (with pieces for bagpipes and orchestra) yet. Gotta get all the Welch that's available out there. Anyody heard Braxton's discs with him ("Composition 247" on Leo, and "Compositions for solo bagpipes" on Parallactic)?

This is beautiful one. Has a couple of Carter/Williams duos, and the score is excellent (early Stravinsky-influenced). There is a second soundtrack, without Carter and Williams, with a cello as solo instrument, and it is also some beautiful music.

Another excellent one: The Bach harpsichord album. Robert Aldwinckle (Regis) I am normally not a fan of harpsichord. I tend to find its sound too harsh, lacking any depth or subtlety. Not the case here. Aldwinckle makes it sound much more than merely decorative (or is it Bach's compositions?). Sound is good. For period instrument purists among us, the instrument used is a copy of the XVIII century piece, so I gues this should qualify. Regis is also a budget label, so this one should be available for cheap as well (I think broinc.com carries their releases).

Mac powerbook, sine waves, turntables. Period, really. XVII century vintage. Instrumentlaists are excellent (this is a rather small ebsemble - 12 instuments, and they rarely play alltogether - really sparse orchestration), sound is great. You have a preference?

Monteverdi: L'incoronazione di Poppea (Brilliant, 4CDs) This is an opera. I don't like opera. But this one is good. Even if one soprano is somewhat withered, and tenor is rather bleak. Still good stuff. The set is dirt-cheap here in Europe (€ 10 for 4CDs). This is not some cheapo edition, on the contrary - thick booklet, good artwork, etc. I don't know how Brilliant pulls it off financially.

This Solal disc was released less than 3 years ago!

A lot of what retired van Vliet was illness - he has MS, if I am not mistaken. Vliet got sick way after he retired from music, iirc. I agree, I think we should distinguish between "retired" and, well, "forced to retire". Poeple who can afford making a living by playing/recording but retire volunterely because they feel they are not up to the level they once set, is one thing. I assume it would take a great deal of courage to do it, and probably very few people can (although some should, IMO - has anybody seen Dewey Redman's recent concerts? ... Archie Shepp? Sonny Rollins? Sunny Murray?). People who are forced to retire (often at their prime) becasue they cannot make a living playing the music are a different case. And there are dozens of names. ESP guys for sure (Giuseppi Logan, in particular); Charles Brakeen... many many others, unfortunately.

Can't get it to play on my computer. It's OK, I have a couple of sealed CDs still. As I am now a proud posessor of a CD Stripper (see picture attached), appreciating new music is becoming easier and easier. Why not go for this solo Sonny Simmons on Parallactic that's been sitting around here unlistened for ages? Edit: Simmons didn't go too well. It actually sounded quite good (except for Simmons' piercing tone), but not for this time (it's 2AM and I am working). So I went for this one: And this is exactly what I needed right now. You fellas are also into medieval vocal music, aren't you?

Yes, you will receive an e-mail from Ariel informing you that actually he is routinely performing children's lullaby and Christmas carol music, praised by authoritative music critics for their unprecedented warmth. ------------------------- Have been listening a lot to wonderful Frisque Concordance: "Spellings" (Random Acoustics) recently. Frisque Concordance is: John Butcher - saxophones Georg Gräwe - piano Hans Schneider - bass Martin Blume - drums Beautiful music, with Martin Blume shinining in particular. Martin Blume website. ------------------------- Also, had a first listen to India Cooke: "Redhanded" (Music & Arts). Excellent work. India Cooke is a violinist with gorgeous lucid tone (reminiscent of Micheal White at his best), and the music is clever creative free jazz with monster band - George Lewis, Larry Ochs, Donald Robinson and Lisle Ellis. Everybody plays wonderfully - Ochs creates great interplay with Cooke with his violin-sounding sopranino, and adds a bit of firebreathing tenor (it's amazing how different his approach on two horns is), Lewis is flamboyant and very inventive and the rhythm section is invariably solid. Recommended. Looks like there is not that much by/with Cooke available, but she had a duo release with Joelle Leandre ( ) on Red Toucan, and I am getting it of course (for $12 at indiejazz).

I have Shibolet's solo soprano saxophone disc on Leo: http://www.leorecords.com/lr/w/music/id/CD...142185088M055b/ I listened to it only once and remember being very impressed by technique (Evan Parker+ ), but less so by the ideas. Will revisit the disc soon. Leo site now has .ogg samples for every track.

Sicne we are at it, let me thorugh in a couple more CDBaby recommendations form my previous orders (I think I plugged them all at least once already, but what the fuck): http://cdbaby.com/cd/577records1 - some lyrical stuff, best Danile Carter I've heard so far http://cdbaby.com/cd/erikfriedlander - solo cello, very impressive http://cdbaby.com/cd/marktaylor - excelent post-bop stuff; Taylor plays French hord http://cdbaby.com/cd/klausjanek - solo BASSSSSSSSSS!!! http://cdbaby.com/cd/curableinterns - this is insane guitar planking http://cdbaby.com/cd/thracianrhap - Bulgarian folk music; some insane reeds playing http://cdbaby.com/cd/mackstaller - very pleasant mainstream guitar trio ($5 sale!!! ) http://cdbaby.com/cd/buhler2 - excellent alto saxophone solo. If you like Butcher and early Evan Parker I don't see why you wouldn't like this one http://cdbaby.com/cd/emtpo - oh yes ($5 sale!!! ) http://cdbaby.com/cd/prasant - Indian music on saxophone. Very impressive. I want more. http://cdbaby.com/cd/neilleonard - outstanding collection of works for solo saxophone & electronics ($5 sale!!! ) http://cdbaby.com/cd/antonanddan - smart saxophone/trumpet duos ($5 sale!!! )

I am a big fan of CDBaby - for generous samples (and you can listen to all samples from a disc on one click), for really unique selection, for $5 sale (check out the Pax releases) and for very reasonable shipping rates. No particular search strategy. I do the Browse -> Free Jazz (or Weird Jazz) and listen to samples. Also, each CD (as well as your cart when you start adding items to it) would have a couple of suggestions links and they are suprisingly relevant. But I can save you some time - recent additions to my cart (not ordered yet): http://cdbaby.com/cd/camarda http://cdbaby.com/cd/sfnptp http://cdbaby.com/cd/andregoudbeek (you wanted some accordeon, didn't you?) http://cdbaby.com/cd/meridianae3 http://cdbaby.com/cd/mmgk http://cdbaby.com/cd/kyriakides http://cdbaby.com/cd/michalowski http://cdbaby.com/cd/opsvikjennings As for Trio Caveat, I don't think they are playing microtonal struff - it is just v e r y s l o w. But good.

I like the Absinth design... Talking of design, got the Trio Caveat release: So, the CD "case" is a sheet of dense paper, folded and held together by a string. Inside the liners are printed on a transparent plastic. More importantly, the music is good. Slow slow stuff. Every sound is placed carefully, as if reluctantly. All instruments (tenor - bass - drums) sounding beautiful. Recommended.

Don't worry, Tony - my focus at e-bay is somewhat different.

Agree, Hines is free! I first heard Hines on the radio back in the days when I was just starting getting interested in improvised music, and was thrilled by the abundance and unpredictability of his ideas. Anything could be played at any time - and everything would fit. Very fast mind. Of solo Hines, I have only "West Side Story" (Black Lion) - a Montreux festival recoding from '74 - great exuberant music (and good sound quality - with audience hum-along during "Solitude"). I would actually add another free pianist, who just as Hines (and Cecil) displayed his telents best in solo setting - Jaki Byard (and you can definitely hear Hines in his playing). And probably Cooper-Moore as well. Edit: just checked to confirm - Cecil Taylor's "Silent Tongues" was recorded at Montreux festival on the same day as Earl Hines' set. I assume Hines heard Cecil play (as well as visa versa). Wonder what they thought of each other.

Sympathy - a 2004 release on Boxholder with Joe McPhee (on soprano and pocket trumpet) and Donald Robinson (on drums) is beautiful solemn carefully-constructed deep music; made me really re-appreciate Malik.

I am quite a fan of Waits as well, with Blue Valentine (both the album and the song) being a favorite. I haven't heard his post-Bone Machine stuff yet - afraid to be disappointed. And "Piano Has Been Drinking" is really a mesmerizing song - I rarely listen to it just once - usually, at least three times in a row. I keep wondering what his concert tours with Zappa (in mid-70s) were like. I also wonder how much he was influenced by Captain Beefheart, and whether they had any interaction.

From EMANEM: Emanem new releases - available March 15: TERRY DAY ‘Interruptions’ (1978-1981) - Emanem 4125 Terry Day was a compelling force on a wide variety of instruments (before ill health curtailed much of his activity in the late 1980s) as can be heard on these 29 solo improvisations and multi-tracks performed on piano, keyboards, alto & soprano saxophones, bamboo pipes, drums, percussion, cello, mandolin, home made instruments, balloons, toys, African thumb piano, voice, Chinese flutes, plastic trumpet, and a Michel Waisvisz crackle box. (There are also cameo appearances by Peter Cusack and Davey Payne on 3 punk rock songs.) 77 minutes – all previously unissued. Psi new releases - available March 15: RUDI MAHALL ‘Solo’ (2005) - Psi 06.01 The first solo record by the Berlin based master of the bass clarinet. 56 minutes. EVAN PARKER OCTET ‘Crossing the River’ (2005) - Psi 06.02 Groups in the range septet to tentet are increasingly possible, given the long term commitment to free improvisation from London based musicians. This CD features two extended octet improvisations by NEIL METCALFE (flute), JOHN RANGECROFT (clarinet), EVAN PARKER (tenor saxophone), PHILIPP WACHSMANN (violin), MARCIO MATTOS (cello), JOHN EDWARDS (bass), JOHN RUSSELL (guitar), and AGUSTН FERNБNDEZ (piano) - plus a sting quintet, and some short trios and duos. 77 minutes. All Emanem & Psi CDs are now available except 4002, 4015 & 4067 which are currently out of stock. Also available for sale at the same price as Emanem CDs: ‘ACOUSTIC TRIO’ Treader TRD004 JOHN COXON (piano, guitar), EDDIE PRЙVOST (percussion), ASHLEY WALES (objects) 2004 ‘JOHN TCHICAI WITH STRINGS’ Treader TRD005 JOHN TCHICAI (bass clarinet, alto sax, voice), JOHN COXON (piano, guitar, samples, etc), ASHLEY WALES (samples, percussion, etc) with MARK SANDERS (percussion), 2005

OK, sorry for taking this long to listen to it. Here I my notes as I listen to it for the first time. 1. Bass jumps out immediately – is this a bassist’s session? Good bass sound – a bit too good, probably (too much of it). Ron Carter? I am absolutely not familiar with Carter’s post-Davis work. This is all too polite for my tastes. Carter or not, but piano does remind of Wynton Kelly. These bass solos are not too interesting, even forced, IMO. And this self-effacing drumming is just too straight – is he afraid to play anything that would distract the bassist from his noodling? OK, but too generic and safe. Not something I would be interested in listening to again. Bassist is a good technician. 2. Oh, some romantic piano. Is this English horn? This sounds very British to me – all this restrained romanticism… Good melody, but a bit cheesy, no?.. not just a bit… This cymbals drumming is quite painful if you listen in headphones (as I do; I take these BFT seriously ). Oh, tablas. No, this is just too cheesy. Although, I like the English horn sound (or is this saxello, or something like this?). I don’t want to think this is Elton Dean. The piano solo is OK, if a bit simplistic (not in execution, but in ideas). All too in-the-pocket and danceable – I am waiting for clap-along to start. Piano solo is too long, and just way to decorative. It’s 5 minutes, and I am ready for it to end. And here is the clapping. No, not for me. 3. More 90s sterile studio sound. Sorry, I can’t maintain interest listening to something like this – it is all so watered-down to my tastes. Piano solo. All are good musicians, no doubt, but it is just so calculated – just like some (very straightforward) formula. No searching, no stretching, no challenge (for themselves, other musicians or listener). At 2 minutes I am ready for the next one. This piano up-and-down runs, weren’t they already outdated clichés in the 50s? Ok, let’s hear what saxophonist says. Coltrane-ish sound. Also very formulaic to me. No. Sorry for being so negative. Again piano? This is how I imagine what Michael Brecker would play. 4. Oh, this also somehow sounds British to me. A lot of bass here as well. Quite pleasant interplay between the horns. First solo. Is this tenor or alto? Embarrassing as it is, I often fail to tell them apart. Some dumbed-down Pharoaisms? Second solo. Quite an ugly sound. Not bad, but also a bit generic. No this is alto (boy, am I knowledgeable). Nice sound. Would be nice if the rhythm section was a bit more varied. OK, but again, not something I feel I would be interested in hearing. Piano. Sounds like the same guy as on one of the earlier tracks here. Now, I am not getting it, this is supposed to be “creative music” – and this is probably ‘90s – what’s the point of playing the music exactly the way it could have been played late 60s? Where is the creative element? 5. A lot of bass in this BFT. This bass sounds good! I should know this bassist. Why do I keep thinking British listening to all this stuff? I like the trombone sound, and the solo is quite good overall. Piano guy again sounds like the guy from track 2. Is this Keith Tippett, by chance? Pretty weak solo, IMO – not development – just restating the same thing with slight variations, very classical-lite approach. And these boom-boom rock-ish drums make it all sound quite dated (70s?). Tenor is good. Beautiful sound. I think he would have benefited form less rock-ish backing – something more flexible and challenging. Bass solo. Nice, but just too locked into the whole theme (and this straight drumming at the background don’t help much). Flute is good., but I am tired of it all already, and this repeated riff is getting more and more annoying.. Long track. 6. Opening is too pretentious for my tastes. The tenorist listened to Coltrane and Joe Henderson a lot. Flugelhorn guy I should know. He is OK. I think thee is some dis-coordination I the between bass and drums – somebody is playing a bit more than probably needed. Nothing really I could hold on to here. 7. This is a very stylistically uniform compilation. It’s 2 minutes already –will they finish this introduction or what? OK, we got into piano trio stuff, very mainstream again. Also feels like a very long track. 8. This sounds not bad. More interesting heavy Elvin-type drumming, finally. We are going to do some improvising, aren’t we (it’s 3 minutes already)? Is this Pharoah on soprano? – quite good, although a bit lazy (in terms of searching for something new – this is a fairly predictable solo… but nicely played). Somebody is really trying to play like Elvin, but I think it’s a bit too heavy-handed for the man himself. And now we have somebody trying to play like McCoy. I don’t like McCoy too much, and definitely don’t enjoy his clones. Or this could be McCoy himself. Does not matter – the solo is so-so, anyway. More soprano, and again quite good. Overall quite a good. At the end they even quote some Coltrane. If this is some ‘90s recording, I am not getting the point. But still most enjoyable track for me here (so far). I like this ending with doubling sopranos! 9. Bass again . Oh, I didn’t expect the violin here! This starts like something interesting! I think it is well constructed – this trumpet/violin interplay. Now, get me some solos. I like the drumming – this is light, creative, making the others sound good (Cyrille?). Nice violin sol (Bang? haven’t listened to him for a long time, and too lazy to check now), there is this African primitivism and directness. Oh, this was short for a solo! Trumpet is extremely familiar – Wadada Leo Smith? O Baikida Carroll. The solo is not too spectacular, but I liked what rhythm section was doing behind it.This is something Soul Note would release – good American 70s free jazz. This track I liked the most. Randy, thanks for preparing this compilation. I really appreciate the effort, and specifically allocate time to listen to it with due attention. Our tastes obviously differ a lot, so I hope you are not offended by my overall lack of interest for this music. It is well-payed, but it lacks everything that I am interested in hearing - experiment, excitement and surprise. I of course didn’t recognize anybody here, and I dropped enough statements that would uncover my ignorance.

Beloved or Hated, that is the question.

Steve, just as you I am becoming less and less interested in listening to fire-music scream-fests - but I am also somehow attacted to what Flaherty is doing. I think his music comes across as something very sincere - and when it is so purely emotional, it somehow avoids sounding trite, even if everything new in his chosen idiom has been already eloquently enough said 30 years ago. I think this sincerety distinguishes Flaherty from those by-default derivative "free" saxophonists like Murray, Ware, Gayle, Finn, and (sorry) - more often than not - Dunmall.

There is a new remaster of Gentle Giant's "Acquiring the Taste" on Repertoir records in Germany - avialble through all the regular outlets. Apprently the sound is terrific. I am excited about this news - this is my favorite Gentle Giant (and prog-rock overall) disc. This conicided with the Universal Japan reissue of "Acquiring the Taste" - this one, in turn, apparently does not sound good at all - and is twice more expenseve. There is an interestign discussion on theses remasters at Steve Hoffman's forum with comments from remasterign engineer Eroc. I am impatiently waiting for my copy to arrive!

Tony, I have this disc, and I think it is excellent - one of my favorite solo bass records. I think the CD is officially OOP, so if you are interested (check the samples out at CD Baby and one full track from Pax website), get it asap. Morgan Guberman also has a solo bass-guitar release on lIMItEd SEdItION called "Passador-Jomel" - this is even more sick shit than the acoutstic disc: mp3 sample. "Passador-Jomel" is an edition of 79 copies. Still available, five years after release. Multi-million worldwide improv music fan base should be collectively embarassed.

I assume Eric would be interested in swapping for a set of complete Cold Blue label releases.