clifford_thornton

Syd Barrett - The Madcap Laughs - (Harvest, boxed EMI UK pressing so I guess a 2nd?)

Richard Williams - New Horn In Town - (Candid, orig stereo)

Just when the original goal was met, she doubled/extended it -- not surprising considering the costs of medical attention in this country & there's still time to donate.

that was the one I remember liking in particular too.

I like Anna Webber's playing though her recordings haven't yet made any hypothetical best-of list. But yeah, talented musician who presumably has yet to hit that "thing." And sure, it's likely that very little could match AB's Quintet (Basel) 1977, which was freshly repressed by Hat this year, and which I'm listening to currently, but that's fine. Halvorson's record is good -- the best parts are where it becomes a concerto for (standard) electric guitar and pedal steel.

Well... I see where you're coming from and I agree in part. Some of my favorite albums of the year are either archival releases or not at all jazz. As a critic I don't really participate in these lists but try each time I've got a chance to review something, put it in context so that even if I'm not going to tally it at the end of the year, at least it is surely validated. I have seen some performances that really hit on what you're looking for, however, and lately that, to me, has been where the advance lies. Any time Jaimie Branch is playing the trumpet I will try to go see her. Or if Joe Hertenstein is playing the drums in an ensemble -- that guy is really quite something. Alvin Fielder just released a new album of duets with bassist Damon Smith -- Alvin is living history of modern jazz drumming, elegant and swinging, and Damon is a player in his 40s who comes out of the European free jazz tradition. It's an interesting combination and they have been performing a lot over the last few years. For every Mary Halvorson record someone buys or listens to, I hope that same person (or another person) checks out Ava Mendoza, who comes from the rock tradition but absolutely walks on a wire in daring to find her way as an improviser. Altoist Marco Eneidi kept charging ahead full bore until the day he died, and his last few releases certainly show that (I was recently revisiting the very last one, Cosmic Brujo Mutafuka, which was his Mexico-based power trio). There's much to be heard that takes it out of the ground.

It's a good record. Frisell, not Ribot, is the guitarist. I don't honestly know if I'd want Cyrille to make a Metamusicians' Stomp-kind of record in 2016.

New (old) one coming out in early 2017 with Sal Nistico and John Engels, Jr. recorded live in '86. Smokin'.

Bleckman is cool - he just recorded with Meredith Monk. Seems like a swell dude and his Instagram game is tight.

I have never even seen a Bingow release in the racks. Not "valuable" I guess, but you don't see them often.

Ah great. I wrote Tomeka asking if she knew how to put me in touch with Wadud for an interview... now I know why I never heard! Great piece, though.

Teddy Charles - Word from Bird - (Atlantic black label mono) briefly owned a very trashed copy of this years ago. Glad to have found a nice one recently -- the music is, of course, superb.

Great set!

That's a great album. Frank was a huge Eddie Jefferson fan, from what I understand, and certainly was inspired to use his voice apart from the saxophone through this appreciation.

Ah bummer. That's sad news. He was very young.

Thanks for the recommendations. Indeed, those HAE records on Circle are strong.

Ah, thanks -- will check that one out. Loosely aware of its existence but have never heard the music.

I'd like to hear some later Murray that is as "wow-ing" as his earlier work. There's a scrappiness to his playing, at least up through the early 80s, that later recordings didn't offer (to me) but I'm sure there must be some fine examples that've been missed.

And he played with the Dead.

The Rouse record on Strata-East is awesome.

Taylor also opens up on Dizzy Reece's "From In to Out" on Futura. I'd also never say that the Braxton standards albums are in any way out of character.

Seems to me like the divide between mainstream and vanguard musicians was not as present as the critical establishment of the time made it out to be. Sure, it was there in some cases, but that didn't stop someone like Philly Joe from playing with Shepp or Sam Woodyard from recording duets with Dave Burrell (unissued Horo, apparently great). Allen Lowe worked with Doc Cheatham -- has a few stories about that association (I think Doc was both open and closed on playing avant-garde music).

Speaking of Joe, his brother, tenor saxophonist Leon Henderson, recorded with the MC5 on High Time, as did trumpeter Charles Moore. For what it's worth I don't think of Ballads (or Standards, the posthumously released follow-up) as out-of-character for Bailey. He played many, many ballads over his long career and certainly knew his way around a melody inside and out. Stranger are the discs with Ruins or with Jamaladeen Tacuma and Calvin Weston!

Yup. Great record, basically the 10"s on one LP.

Johnson/Winding/Dennis/Green/Lewis/Mingus/Taylor - Trombone Rapport - (Debut, DK)