Д.Д.

No idea, but we can write to Gebbia and ask him if this is DA SHIT or not.

Ubu, I htink there are two Mirabassis (at least ) -one plays the piano, another one - clarinet. I have the solo paino disc, haven't listened to it yet. Will do soon.

Don't have the disc, bit I saw the band live - pretentious, boring, cliuche-infested stuff.

Available from Cadence for only $21! I just sent an e-mail to indiejazz guys, asking if they can procure the rest of the Sketch catalog (including HUM). New avatar is good. The birdie should hold a funny-looking rat in the beak, though.

I have the latest Carrothers - "Armistice 1918", and I am not too certain what to make of it. It has quite a bit of "nostalgic" war-time songs singing, and the rest is in overly pastoral-sentimental-romantic-billevans mood. Now, there is another ealrier one on Sketch which I haven't heard. I have Carrothers' duo with a drummer (forgot his name) on another label (forgot the label!) - and that one is excellent. Yes, the title I also forgot. But it is good.

Maslak normally plays alto, and while somewhat limited stylistically, he is terrific at what he is doing (i.e. blowing alto to pieces). I think this is his first record, and the only one where he sticks to tenor. As I mentioned, of what I heard I like the most Mother Russia (Leo) - duets with various Soviet musicians: However, Humanplexity with Misha Mengelberg and Han Bennink is a good one as well. Now, this one is not that easy to find - it was once issued on Leo (under the name of Kenny Millions), then went OOP and reissued by Maslak himself (as a CD-R with an ugly cover) on his own Hum Ha label (aparently with a lot of mutual acrimony with Leo Feigin). The only two sources I know that might carry it are Jazz Loft and well, themusicresource.com. --------------------------------------------------------- Talking about themusicresource.com, they managed to beat their own record recently - out of 5 CDs I ordered all 5 turned out to be unavailable (after 6 weeks of labored search)! What did I order, you ask? PRIMATERIA ALBERT AYLER'S BELLS Compact Discs $11.25 0 Unavailable BHOB RAINEY WITHERED GRASSES Compact Discs $11.25 0 Unavailable HADEN,CHARLIE MONTREAL TAPES-VOL.1 Compact Discs $13.75 0 Unavailable CYRILLE,ANDREW & LYONS,JIMMY NUBA Compact Discs $13.75 0 Unavailable TED CURSON CATTIN' Compact Discs $12.75 0 Unavailable

From what I understand, this is a studio recording.

Two people who I believe, contributed significantly to expanding the laguage of the soprano saxophone: Bhob Rainey Michel Doneda

One - "Root Down" (Verve). Like it, but feel I don't need more Smith at the moment.

Guy, thanks for the link. What is surprising is that out of 230K discs sold (quite a good number, I'd say) - nearly 200K are in France and Japan alone! This implies very low sales in the US (despite at least a couple of fairly big names - Waldron and Lacy, present in the catalogue) - I wonder whether this is (was ) a distribution problem or an indication of trends in the US jazz purchasing...

Again, thanks for preparing this BFT. Writing my notes as I listen. 1. Excellent. Interesting - simple, but not trivial theme – something Andrew Hill could have written. Short solos, but very to the point and with a great deal of tension. This trumpet is soaring – pheeew. Hubbard? Tenorist is excellent (but the solo it too short!) – surely I know him, but just, just the name does not come up at the moment somehow Now, what’s up with this bass?! – Is it electric keyboard-bass (bassett?) or something? – sounds quite clumsy to me. I assume this is pianist’s date, since if he were a sideman nobody would allow him to butcher the date this way. At 4 minutes it’s too short – will listen again! Looking forward to learning who it is and getting this disc (although sound like this is a vinyl – shit). 2. Bootleg sound quality, but excellent music. This is Hancock’s theme. Tenor is POWERFUL. Just beautiful. Trumpet solo is sublime – and more aggressive and technical than he tended sounded in the studio (making me think for a moment –could this be Hubbard playing like Miles?). Excellent. Hopefully we’ll see some legit live releases by this band one day. 3. Wait, now this definitely sound like Andrew Hill! Yeah, good stuff. Time to start listening to this Mosaic box I bought (for quite big $$) more than a year ago… Didn’t know Hill recorded with vibes (Hutcherson, I assume?). Excellent bass – this has to be Richard Davis. Love this bass-drums interplay during the piano solo. Vibes solo – oh yes, this is Hutcherson. Just can’t concentrate on the solo – bass and drums are too good! Who’s the drummer – JC Moses… Joe Chambers? Probably Chambers – this “composer” drumming style. Oh, there is tenor here as well. Excellent solo. Not sure exactly who it is right now (shame on me). Sounds like the guy from the track 1, btw. 4. Heh, heh, smooth start – a bit of an anti-climax after the previous track. Beautiful, beautiful guitar sound. Grant Green. What, again vibes?!… and again Hutcherson?! Heey, this are some hints at powerful drumming restrained – Elvin Jones! Guitar solo just pleasure to follow – it unrolls so effortlessly. Vibes solo is very much in the same mood and style as guitar solo – and thus less interesting. Organ. Normally not a big fan of 60s Hammond, this guy is just adding more substance and edge to it than anybody had done before him. Should get this CD. 5. More organ. OK. Nice trumpet sound. Oh, just too much pathos in the organ solo. Lonnie Liston Smith? Don’t like it. Again trumpet. Taking themselves a bit too seriously, aren’t they? 6. Trumpet sounds so fragile here. Nice. Wonderful warm trombone sound – but a short solo. Good shift to double-tempo – it was becoming too sleepy otherwise. Nice tenor solo, but just to short to become anything else than nice. Overall quite good, but I am left wit ha feeling that something even more interesting could have been achieved if musicians stretched themselves a bit here. 7. Swinging. Good piano solo. Good trumpet solo. Good alto solo (McLean?). Not exactly sure how it is different from 10,000 other ‘50s-‘60s hard bop records, but enjoyable. Yeah, drum solo is also good. Again, enjoyable, but I am just not too much inclined to listen to music like this these days. 8. Oh, a “spiritual” beginning (like something Pharoah Sanders could write). Piano I like, but drums are annoyingly simple (and recorded upfront as well) – surely the pianist (early Abdullah Ibrahim (when he was still Dollar Brand), possibly?) deserves more imaginative accompaniment. Bass is also not particularly shining. Actually, bass is no good, I’d say. Interested about the pianist – really would have preferred if this were a solo: bass/drums did not add a bit. 9. Nice team – I think I hear it before. The piano I like – economy of means, but good ideas. Could be Ellington? No this is not Ellington – Ellington sounded more confident - this sounds like the guy is shy about what he is playing. This is Herbie Nichols (and the theme sounds like Nichols’ theme). Good stuff. Bass/drums are OK… wait a minute, is this Max Roach on drums? Bass I really don’t like – too boom-boom-boom and no subtlety, particularly given very gentle piano approach. But overall, very nice. 10. Ah-hem, swinging organ. This is what I meant by no depth and substance – this sounds like empty chatter to me. Well-played. OK, guitar is also fairly generic. Well-played. Actually, the guitar is not that bad, and I know the guitar player, but hmm, forgot (Pat Martino, possibly?… some of his later stuff? –I only know his early Music works, but I remember seeing him 3-4 years ago in Philly woth an organist – got bored and left). Still, not something I would be too interested in listening to. 11. Moontrane. Woody Shaw. Don’t remember this particular recording, but pretty sure that’s him (could this be the “Stepping Stone” live Columbia album?). Beautiful – such a clear and powerful sound, and a quick mind. Oh, more vibes? More Hutcherson?!?!? Didn’t know they recorded together…The solo is quite good, if with a number of clichés. This fast vibes part surely is impressive! Come on, this is a long solo. Piano solo – good one. Is this Ronnie Matthews, the guy who also wrote a couple of excellent tunes? Well, all this trades with drummer are nothing special. Well, this is a long track. Probably wouldn’t have minded listeing to Woody soloing all though it, but with the other solos, I did get bored a but by the end. Good stuff, nonetheless. So we should get the organ next, right? 12. Sure – here we go, an organ. The theme is too light-weight for my taste. Hmm, I’d say that this sounds like Grant Green as well (sound is slightly different – less deep… could this be early George Benson, by chance?), but somehow I enjoy it less than on the track before. This organ I don’t like, and the steady jolly drum beat is starting to get on my nerves (I probably wouldn’t have paid much attention to it if the organ solo were even a bit interesting (IMO)). It’s 5 minutes, and guitar enters again, and I’m already ready for the next track of this BFT. 13. Oh, large form – didn’t expect that here. OK, a competent saxophone solo, nothing special. Not sure I like arrangement too much – too polished, and inclusion of these Middle-Eastern instruments sounds forced and kitsch-y to me. Good trumpet solo –I think it’s Hubbard again. Overall, no particular emotions toward this one – neither positive, nor negative. Thanks, .:.impossible.

That's a shame. ANother thing that distingushed SKETCH recordings is their beautiful sound (recorded in Studios la Buisonne) - i.e. Anthony Cox's solo bass record "This & That", while probably not essential for musical merits, has to be heard for the bass sound alone. Lacy's "Work" is perhaps one of the best-recorded CDs in recent years (and excellent music as well). SKETCH website has full-track mp3s from each of their releases available, and I would encourage everybody to check them out - there is a lot of beautiful music there.

That's an incredible lineup. You two guys are very lucky. Well, yesterday I saw another no-slouch rocking combo: Alexander Schlippenbach - piano, trumpet Rudi Mahall - bass clarinet Axel Dörner - trumpet Jan Roder - bass Uli Jennessen - drums playing the music of Thelonius Monk. Will collect my thoughts, and will make a write-up some time later. The band just released an all-Monk 3-CD ("Monk's Casino") set on INTAKT, and they were offering it at the concert at Sfr. 60 ($50). I decided to skip it for now. But I will get it.

Upcoming release on INTAKT: BARRY GUY NEW ORCHESTRA "ENTROPY" Barry Guy Agusti Fernandes Evan Parker Mast Gustafsson Hans Koch Johannes Bauer Herb Robertson Per Ake Holmlander Paul Lytton Raymond Strid This is the fantastic band ubu and I saw the other day.

Well, you can get even better than this: here and here Both on Leo.

I also prefer having all CDs on display (makes it easier for me to decide what to listen), so can-am was not my choice. This is what I am using:

If you like this one, you can go for all of the other Cllective 4tet discs you find - they are all good (I haven't heard the very recent one, though). As for Willism Parker, as I mentioned, I believe that Collective 4tet features some of his most creative low-cliché playing in recent years. Interestingly, I 've been lately listening to a couple of CDs from late 70s and early 80s with Parker (trio with Wayne Horwitz and Butch Morris on Black Saint, and "Through Acceptance of a Mystery Peae" on Eremite), and he sounds like a much more diverse and explorative musician there.

Milford Graves!? Only him.

First of all, thanks for compiling the disc. Here are my thoughts. 1. Simplistic introduction theme. The bassist does not really listen to the vibes player, does he? –they get out of sync in the fast part (well, more fast part – everything is fast here). Vibist can play fast, but it all sounds way too clumsy. Not that much of an interesting improvisation here– sure, poor guy is struggling to keep in tempo with the bassist, no time to think. Not too impressive for me. 2. Nice Monk’s theme. Hmmm… that’s simplifying it too an extreme. Really childish, I say. .:.impossible, that’s not you playing, by chance? Not much interest for this one either. 3. Quite funny start, but nothing much happens after that. Drumming with all these clapping sounds becomes annoying after a while. 2 minutes - that’s it? Nice, but not more. 4. Heey, this I like. Unique approach to drumming. A bit unfocused and rambling, but that’s the man’s style – he lets the music carry him away. This music is even better appreciated live (although he tends to spend most of the time singing and dancing), due to amazing energy that this (fairly old now) man projects on stage. Hope he records more - I would love to hear him in duo with some guitarist, Elliott Sharp, probably. Bravo. 5. Nice transition – into the drum sola – also extroverted, but a more disciplined drummer. Like the drummer –a bit Cyrille-ish, but it’s not him (not good enough ). Like the unison theme by saxophonists. Hmmm, this transition to fairly standard hard-bop thing surely is disappointing. Tenor solo is OK, fairly generic. This is something recently recent (90s- 00s), very safe, and quite sterile. Oh, and the second saxophonist (is this alto or also tenor?) is equally competently boring. At the call-and-response part you can hear that both saxophonists are quite Henderson-ish. Something like this was already quite outdated in 1965 – not sure it has any relevance in 2005. Oh, drum solo. Drum solo I like. Interestingly, I hear some influence of the drummer from the track 4. 6. Brushes –tasty sound. Nice guitar sound – now what? …Now nothing much, it seams. A drowsy organ mini-solo. At 1:40 I am starting to worry if anything is going to happen here at all. OK, we got a quite clean polite guitar solo. Come on, this is just too generic… Is this to accompany afternoon dance sessions for those over 60? Very much no good, IMO. 7. Again, I just don’t hear any development here. No search, no exploration, no risk taking. This gong is annoying, I think. Quite new-agey. Hand in hand watch the sunrise on the beach. 8. OK, time to wake up! Beginning I like. Edgy theme and more life in the guitar sound. Nice bass-drums – you just feel they enjoy it. Guitar solo is interesting. These shifts when bass stops playing - very tasty. Muted trumpet solo is also good! Sounds like Paul Smoker at his less adventurous. Or Joe McPhee – haven’t heard a lot of his trumpet playing, but this sound like saxophone solo played on trumpet. Excellent shift to hi-hats by drummer. Excellent track! Very interested to learn who these musicians are. 9. This is very much so-so. Again, rather bland playing from everybody. Vibist is the best here, but also far from spectacular. Khan Jamal at his less inspired? Hope not. The theme is formulaic as well. 10. Nice theme. I am pretty sure I have it recorded somewhere – but I think it is played on piano there. Sounds like something Carla Bley could have written – little simple repetitive hypnotic melody. Oooops, this rhythm’n’blues-ish guitar – quite silly, no? And the bassist is doing something very awkward and busy behind it – just to emphasize the silliness of it all, I guess. Vibes solo – pretty, lots of feedback making it painful, not eventful in terms of ideas. 70s, I guess? Not good, IMO. 11. Good theme. Beautiful low trumpet sound! Excellent solo – would have loved if it were longer. This booming steady bass is a bit annoying – would have been better to have something more flexible and original. Impressionistic piano solo OK. Counterpoint ensemble part is interesting – tastefully and cleverly done, just this bass is annoying. Bass clarinet (?) is not going anywhere – a shame. Not bad at all. Curious about the trumpeter. 12. Well recorded (unlike previous track). Bassist is heaving a peculiar concept of time. Not a very flexible bass playing, I say. Is this a bassist’s date? – he is too prominent in the mix. Tenor is OK – competent, nothing too original. Drummer sounds like Hamid Drake to me. More competent generic modern outdated music. 13. Yeah, piano, it’s been a long time since we’ve heard it here. More Monkisms? The guy (gal) does not let himself go, does he? Don’t like it too much. Substituting ideas for these nervous stops. Sounds like Ran Blake to me. 14. Nice classical trumpet sound. Such an overblown arrangement. Not a bad one, but just does not fit with the singer. Was the brass section overdubbed? Bad idea, IMO. The singer is OK, nothing special (a couple of nice hooks here and there, but again…. just generic, sorry). Shit, this arrangement is so out of place… You didn’t mix it yourself, did you? 15. More large band. Strong alto sound. Solo is OK. Does not sound improvised to me. Phil Woods? OK stuff. 16. Hmmm. Just didn’t provoke any emotion or interest whatsoever – nether bad not good.

I ahve it. It's a duo with a drummer, and it is really good - quite free but lyrical.

Received mine today. Thanks .:.impossible and tjobbe (nice packaging!). FInishing the first listen of disc 1 - will probably post my thoughts tomorrow.

Will be placing an order soon.

Hope Jon won't mind: From Erstwhile's newsletter: OK, in the 5-plus years I've been running Erstwhile, I've never had a sale before, and I don't expect to have one again for a while. but I moved this week, and am having a "I have too much stuff and not enough money" one-time sale, through the end of February, details below. all single CDs are $10, doubles $15, plus my shipping estimate. buy any 5 releases, get an additional single CD free. the box set is still $100 plus shipping, but you also get two single discs of your choice included for free. sale ends last day of February and is only good for all-Erstwhile orders directly through me at ErstRecs@aol.com. no preorders will be accepted; this only applies to releases out now. please e-mail me your orders before sending money so I can tell you the correct shipping. the full catalog is listed here, 010 is OOP, and 004 has only a handful of copies left, everything else I've got... http://www.erstwhilerecords.com/catalog.asp thanks for your time! -jon abbey

There is also some singing on a couple of tracks - by Bley and Peacock. I thought the disc was quite weak overall, with first track indeed being somewhat more interesting.

McPhee is one of my favorite musicians. Both of his solo hatOLOGIY releases "Tenor & Fallen Angel" and "As Serious As Your Life" are essential (and are about to go OOP), IMO. Another one of his recent works I particualrly enjoy, is his duo with drummer Johnny McLellan Grand Marquis (on Boxholder). McLellan is a very creative drummer with a composer thinking, and his "conversational" style brings up the best in McPhee (who plays tenor on this date).