clifford_thornton

Allen, we need you here, and I'm glad things are on the mend, albeit slowly. I heard from Kevin the other day and didn't know until then that he'd had a heart attack! This is the first I'm hearing about Peplowski though. Yikes.

I'd like to hear that. Wonder if Adam/50 Miles can get copies. Saw Henry not long before his departure -- Music Under New York thing, Henry was in good spirits & sound but his health was compromised. Still glad I had the opportunity to hear and meet him.

Fire Music is quite good but it is short at 88 minutes in length. There is a lot to cram into that space, as you might imagine. The film basically stops in the early 1970s -- there's a little bit on the Europeans, but it's quite superficial. I know Tom knows that music so it was certainly a time constraint issue. Nothing on Japanese or South Korean improvised music. A big area of focus was on Ornette, Cherry, and Dolphy through the eyes and ears of Bobby Bradford, Prince Lasha, Sonny Simmons, and Carla Bley. Ayler, Coltrane, Cecil, Sun Ra, the Jazz Composers' Guild, and the AACM/BAG were also discussed, but to me it seems like the Dolphy/Ornette angle was the leaping-off point. It was great to see footage of some of our departed masters -- Burton Greene, Noah Howard, Rashied Ali, Sirone, Prince & Simmons -- in interview. The Q&A had to be cut short because of time as well, but we did get some conversation in. Thurman Barker can unfurl passionately on the topic, and it was great to hear him speak. He lives not too far from me so I'm sure we will break bread at some point.

Good question. I will have to go back into my Curson interview and see if he says anything like that... I don't think he sounds like Cherry; was listening to the Candid LP not too long ago and was struck anew by what he was putting together phrase-wise and soundwise at that time.

My original Polydor LP sounds a bit brighter than the A/F LP but it is far from perfect. Still, I enjoy the sound of the record and it's an excellent session.

will keep an eye out for a nice copy.

I don't think I've encountered this -- looks interesting.

Eremite are working on it.

Sad news indeed; he'd been unwell for a while I think. Was able to see him live a number of times, including with the Revolt of the Negro Lawn Jockeys band. By the way, that album is slated to be reissued as an LP set fairly soon. RIP.

Dixon was doing all right at the time; he had a good setup with Soul Note and the Black Music Division at Bennington was ongoing, though strife with the college administration was pretty heavy. It's a great documentary though. A bit like Spellman's Four Lives updated and translated to a slightly different scenario. And I remember some fun nights with a lot of wine in Bill's presence. Nothing wrong with that!

the organ Kloss LPs are the ones I do not have.

It will be video-on-demand at some point.

Amazing figure, and I loved listening to him. RIP.

yeah, 9/10 and 9/11 at Film Forum and more TBA.

Seeing it on Saturday in NYC (and sitting on the Q&A panel w/ Surgal and Thurman Barker). Will report back -- though I'm on the panel, Tom hasn't given me the chance to pre-screen the film so I'm going in cold.

I was just revisiting & blasting Harper's "Live in Europe" on Soul Note last night... great record indeed.

Sad, any way you look at it.

Sonnet is the one I would like to own, as it's got a freer piece by Hideto Kanai, who I like quite a bit.

seems like distro is putting it out for $450-$600 which is a bit too much to plunk down, lavish as it might be.

where'd you get it? I see that it's sold out from the source.

I'll definitely buy it, but as lavish as the LP version looks, I won't be splashing out for that behemoth. The hype is exhausting but that comes with the territory for a lot of these releases.

The HAE was one of a number of groups within BAG, and I associate it mostly with the saxophonist James Marshall and his wife, vocalist Carol Marshall, as well as Shaw and Thomas. Marshall was white, as were players like John Lindberg and James Emery, who also passed through the group, and it was less focused on political-social ideologies of Black Music (hence the Human Arts Ensemble).

I'm quite sure he was sitting in and hanging out with Trane at the Penthouse during these gigs. I will have to look through my interview with Carlos to see if I can corroborate anything. His sound is pretty recognizable so if we can hear a clip it should be fairly easy to discern him. Yes, he confirmed playing a bunch with Trane at the Penthouse when Joe Brazil was recording, though not specifically playing the composition A Love Supreme.

Leni Sinclair was there shooting photos. I have a glossy of Cecil that she took at that concert.