Д.Д.

I was lookng through the pile of unlistened to discs, and found a couple of unosounds releases (bought at CD Baby, I guess): John Butcher's solo and Butcher/Lehn/Moor disc. They go to the top of the pile.

Friends, I got J. J. Johnson Mosaic set a couple of weeks ago, and just can't get enought of it. This is some of the most beautifully organized and executed music I've ever heard. The set is "running low", so I would encourage everybody here to get it asap.

Glad you liked it, & glad you liked the review too. I seem to recall someone here (was it ubu or D.D.?) wasn't so keen on this brand of European jazz, in the comments on the BFT thread..... ← Indeed, I was not too impressed by that piece. But I got a copy of Janssen / Bennink's "Groet" - looking forward to listening to it.

Win this time is the most jazzy title in the Limited Sedition catalog I've heard. Golia is a bit show-offish here, but he does have what to show. Mutable Witness is excellent! Btw, despite very sloppy appearence of the CD-Rs, the music is mostly well-recorded. Oh, I remember - the one I like a lot is Morgan Guberman's tortured bass-guitar solo "Passador Gomel" - some crazy bubbling sounds. Guberman has also an excellent acoustic bass solo on Pax ("Hamadriya Baboon" it's called, I think), btw - but I plan to bring it up when I do a little overview of some more of the solo bass CDs I got.

I've done a quick search & I don't think Joachim Gies has been mentioned here before, any opinions as I'm a bit partial to solo works? ← As Gokhan mentioned, I do not have this Gies solo disc, but I do and highly enjoy the Not Missing Drums Project discs (on Leo; I have two, I think there are three or four). I agree with ubu - this is some pretty indescribable stuff; very original and engaging. There is some very impressive "modern academic" writing (but not in a sense of cold, dry, cerebral stuff, but rather quircky, catchy even funky little miniatures), some fusion with (very strong) opera singing, and just a little bit of free-ish blowing (in which Gies himself shines). All without bombast and pretty self-ironic (e.g. some romantic soprano singing against bass clarinet wailings, etc.). Gies is very talented composer and arranger, and based on this alone I am interested in his solo works - but from (few) moments of his soloing, it sounds like he also has some excellent chops.

My favorite is his early duo of his with Abdullah Ibrahim "Hamba Khale" (BYG) - reissued on CD a couple of years back. What a powerful sound on tenor! The latter stuff got watered down progressively, with each susequesnt work becoming more and more repetative and formulaic (by the middle of his FLying Dutchmen perid Barbieri seem to have stopped imporvising alltogether, just replaying the same melodic line all over and over again with very sight variations - not totally unenjoyable, but a far cry from his earlier stuff). Still have to get the ESP one.

Thanks, D.D., I will get that soon from either Verge or DMG. Yes, Music & Arts discs are cheap but in my experience the sound leaves a fair bit to be desired. How is the sound on this one - we can hear the two basses allright, yes? ← Sound is not spectacular, but you can hear the basses OK. And these are some crazy basses!

I was able to get this one, as well as Evan parker's Conic Sections, from Gino. Hopefully I'll have a chance to listen to both today. I'll post my thoughts if I do. ←

I hope nobody minds me quoting myself, but Hunting the spirits inside them on Music & Arts featuring Golia, one Joelle Leandre and one Ken Filiano is a monster record. Last time I checked Music & Arts CDs were available at Cadense for some laughable amount of $$. Dave Taylor is featured on excellent CD by Absolute Ensemble called Absolution (Enja Winkelmann): http://www.enjarecords.com/cd.php?nr=ENJ-9394 Highly recommended if you are interested in exploring combination of 20th century academic orchestral music with improvisation. Besides Taylor this disc features Denman Maroney on impressive prepared piano. ← finally found this puppy used ($4.99!) what a steal! and you didn't mention that they did hendrix's "purple haze", WOW!!! thanks for the recommendation! ← I thought "Purple haze" was the most kitch and the least successful of the tunes here. Still quite entertainig - only pales in comparison to other tracks on this really outstanding record. Let us know what you think of it.

Tony, no response from Leo is atypical for him. I assume he is on a summer vacation without access to e-mail. ----------------------- This the sale of tickets for money was abolished CD surely looks interesting. Gotta send some money to Mr. Smith. ------------------------ I agree regarding the missing person report style. As if the fact that the person is missing is not enough - you need to justify that he is a really nice guy...

Don't think we ever discussed Tano. I am not familiar with his music. Any recommendations?

Looks very interesting, evn though I don't kow Togashi (making it even more intriguing). Will search for it.

Just ordereed it used (couldn't find it new anywhere) from amazon.com.

Nor me. I've added it to the top of "the list." ← Available at CD Connection for $14.33.

You boys all picked up Bennink/Nabatov duo on Leo (Chat Room), didn't you? It went OOP real fast, so I figured this must have been you...

Yeah, I'll add this one too.

Very solid. The liner notes mention that he is no longer able to "sustain the intense high energy of previous decades" but I never even noticed. His playing is nuanced, interesting, and appropriate for the musicians he is playing with. Very impressive. ← I am very much unipressed by his early ('60s) playing - I find it dull, extremely repetative and very limited technically, with no regard for other players whatsoeever. This hi-hat muddy "waves" on Ayler's records annoy me immensely and this shallow snare drum sound always makes me cringe. I like the first seconds of his playing on "Spiritual Unity", though. I was bemused by Murray's account of Rashied Ali following him (literally and in msuic), and his condecending remarks about Milford Graves - both being much more interesting and creative musicians than Murray, IMO. But I would be interested in hearing what old and wise Murray would sound like (probably in posession of a better-sounding drumset?)...

How is Sunny Murray's playing? I haven't heard his later recordings...

Just received Ory, O'Day and JJ sets, and gave a couple of O'Day and JJ Cds a spin - essential music indeed. (Un)interestignly enough, all three sets are unnumbered.

In general I would agree with your assesment, except for Ran Blake. I hate his style - I find it pretentious and hysterical. He is the reason I can hardly listen to Memories of Vienna (hatOLOGY) - his duo with Braxton, despite the latter's outstanding playing. Nabatov is good, but not essential - muscular mainstream pieno trio. A bit too voluble for my tastes (not only Nabatov, but also Rainey - good druimmer, but tends to overplay). I would recommend Nabatov's more risk-taking works, like his epic Master and Margarita (Leo) or his really briliant duo with Han Bennink Chat Room (also on Leo). Mengelberg's "Root..." is a difficult one. Parts of it are really boring, other are good (duos with saxophonist, if I remember correctly - haven't listend to it for years). Not essential, I'd say. Anyway, I assume Funny Rat regulars have all the hatOLOGY titles already.

Would like to make a database of my CDs for insurance purposes. Could anybody recommend any CD database software (possibly with audio files reading functionality as well). How good is the software for indie-label, no bar code CDs? Quick googling yields: http://www.firetongue.com/ http://www.base40.com/ http://www.collectorz.com/music/cd_databas...ord=cd_database http://www.primasoft.com/deluxeprg/muodx.htm

Just received it. Haven't had time to listen to the music, but I did listen to the mailbox message track. This is Lacy's call to Leandre in which he says that he listened to their recording and it is terrific and it should be released - this is what he actually wanted to discuss. He says he is not sure who could release it. Then he says he will call back on Saturday. "Hope your heart is OK. Love you baby, au revoir".

Good choice! I don't have this Trovesi, but have quiet a few other ones. Trovesi is an excellent musician with great ideas; a little bit too "clean" for my tastes in his playing, but still very enjoyable. I am less of a fan of his often sidekick Minafra - technically amazing trumpeter, but more of a musical show(-off)man, in my view. Wasn't planning to buy this Trovesi CD at the moment (just bought his excellent "A midsummer's dream" (Enja), Italian Instabile's "Litania subilante" and "La banda" - enough of Trovesi for now), so won't be able to comment on this one, but will re-listen to another Octet disc I have: Les Hommes Armees (Soul Note, 1996)

Yes, I you've liked anything at all by this duo or think you might, I highly recommend Steve Lacy and Mal Waldron's "Let's Call This...Esteem". Recorded live in 1993 at the Playhouse Theatre, Oxford. 9 tracks which end up taking 78 minutes 15 seconds. Exemplary playing all around - and really great solos by both on In a Sentimental Mood and the Monk covers, there are 4. ← Thanks. Sure, this is obvious enough - just as Waldron/Roach duo.