clifford_thornton

nice - though I listened to Nirvana from 1991 pretty regularly until the hype machine went well beyond taking over, and I still appreciate their music, I never did get to see them. Now: Booker Ervin - Exultation! - (Prestige blue label) pressing isn't too hot but the music is burning.

sorry dudes, got totally swamped but the stacks are assembled and they should go out tomorrow!

Really love pianist Howard Riley's debut, with Jon Hiseman on drums and Barry Guy on bass. Titled "Discussions" it was initially released in a run of 99 copies by Chris Wellard's Opportunity imprint in 1968. Riley is apparently holding a bunch of those back to sell on 'retirement' or whatever. Sawano reissued it in Japan maybe 15 years ago? That's the version I have, and it was also a very limited issue with a letter of authenticity by Riley himself. FMR put it on CD a few years ago though that seems to have vanished as well...

same here. I need to list the CDs that I'm keeping as well... which at this point, isn't all that many compared to what I had before...

Have the UK issue of Urge with the 'Jazz Life' cover art. Looks fine and sounds finer. Excellent date. I think the only Japanese ones I have are Consequences and Jazz Realities -- the rest are Dutch or UK. Awesome series full of great music.

I tend to think of "private press" implying a small number of copies of a given release but maybe that's not accurate. Those E. Parker McDougal records on Grits are an example of some very fine Chicago jazz released on the artist's own imprint -- not rare (surely at least 1,000 of each title) but well worth seeking out. The bands are great, bluesy post-bop and include such Chicago luminaries as George Freeman, Wilbur Campbell, Willie Pickens, Steve McCall, Dan Shapera, and Robert Shy.

would check it out.

from the less "out" files I'll add: J.R. Monterose -- "In Action" -- (Heavy Soul Music) this has been reissued & is 'around.' Wonderful duets w/ Han Bennink and a larger, somewhat trippy Afro-Caribbean ensemble din feat. Steve Boston, John Grunberg and Jan Jacobs on the second side. Ben Webster -- "In Hot House" -- (Hot House) fantastic later quartet session with Tete, Eric Ineke and Rob Langereis issued by the jazz club Hot House in the late 70s/early 80s. Really lovely date.

Here you go.... Don Pullen & Milford Graves -- "In Concert at Yale University" and "Nommo" -- (SRP) the quintessential piano-percussion duets from two masters of improvisation. The first one features a bit of electric piano and a hand-painted cover to boot. Albert Ayler -- "Something Different!!!" -- (Bird Notes) tiny imprint run by Swedish saxophonist Bengt Nordström, which mostly issued his solo saxophone music on LP and 7" in runs of 15-200 copies. There's also a rare record with Don Cherry called "Psychology" that only came out in an edition of 5. Ayler's first and two alternate versions of a second volume were first out on this label. Kees Hazevoet -- "Pleasure One" -- (Peace) powerful, stirring quartet music from this board's resident Dutch pianist/clarinetist, joined by Louis Moholo, Arjen Gorter and tenor saxophonist Kris Wanders. Issued privately with a beautiful silkscreened cover in an edition of 250 (I think.) by a guy who also released European Beatles bootlegs. Pierre Favre/Irene Schwiezer/Peter Kowald -- "Santana" -- (PIP) rugged piano trio from 1968-69 later reissued by FMP. Other European private label jazz LPs that FMP reissued early on: Peter Brötzmann's "Machine Gun" and "Trio," both originally on BRÖ, and Alexander von Schlippenbach's "The Living Music," originally on Quasar. Seikatsu Kojyo Iinkai - s/t - (SKI) brilliant and relentless avant-garde LP with Kazutoki Umezu (alto sax) Yoryuki Harada (piano, bass clarinet), Ahmed Abdullah (trumpet), William Parker (bass), and Rashied Sinan (drums), recorded at Studio We in 1975. I'm amazed that it hasn't been reissued. The original was manufactured and distributed by the Japanese label ALM (Kojima) but for all intents and purposes is a private-press LP and the only release on the SKI imprint. They did another record with an all Japanese cast, also privately issued (no label at all I don't think) that's impossible to find in its original format. There are bunch of interesting private Japanese jazz LPs -- Itaru Oki's "Murder Classroom," Evolution Ensemble Unity "Concrete Voices," Yosuke Yamashita's "Dancing" -- but I believe all were manufactured by high-quality Japanese companies and unlike some of their European and American counterparts, sound absolutely brilliant. Michael Cosmic -- "Peace in the World" -- (Cosmic Records) deep, spiraling group improvisations recorded in 1974 and featuring other Boston denizens like saxophonists Leonard Brown and Phill Musra, drummer Huseyin Ertunc, bassist John Jamyll Jones and percussionist Eric Jackson (yes, the radio DJ). Cosmic sticks primarily to piano here and sounds a bit like Lowell Davidson. He, his brother Phill and Ertunc made two other records together as a trio for the tiny Intex label. Other Boston private jazz LPs of note -- Worlds' and the World's Experience Orchestra, two LPs by trumpeter Mark Harvey (quartet and duet), and the first recordings of David S. Ware under alto saxophonist Abdul Hannan's leadership -- are all worth seeking out. Leo Jones -- "Fire Engine and Crossover" -- (Mirrosonic) Leo Jones was/is a trumpeter who studied under Bill Dixon, and this is a ripping electric jazz/free fusion LP he cut with a bunch of New York high school and junior high school students ca. 1974. It's great and rather surprisingly cohesive considering the green-ness of the ensemble. Mirrosonic was a custom LP manufacturing imprint and I can't imagine there are too many copies of this thing floating around.

There are thousands of private press jazz LPs. I'm not sure, however, if you'd include artist-financed independent productions with limited distribution within this rubric. I certainly would, but not everyone agrees. Since I do try to find/document a lot of these records I'd be happy to add some recommendations.

same.

my copy of Solar Plexus sounds good, but all the other ones -- they're fine -- have just a liiiitle crackle. It's not too bad, probably a 2 on the BYG scale.

Even my clean copy of Elastic Rock has a little 'lite' rustle in the quiet parts. It's just a fact of life dealing with Vertigo pressings, which I assume were fairly cheaply manufactured compared to the effort they put into jacket design. That Oki is a really cool record as well.

Eeko sounds especially nice on this one.

Jacques Coursil - Black Suite - (BYG Actuel, FR) Probably haven't listened to this in about 15 years, but it's great.

Hozan Yamamoto - Suite for Shakuhachi - (RCA, JP)

If it plays I'll take it.

That's sort of true with dish warp, maybe less so with a fine, jumpy edge warp.

cool, can you pm me disaac? three for three.

Whenever I think of Muskogee I think of the Katy Railroad. Now spinning: Psychic Ills - Inner Journey Out - (Sacred Bones) 90s revivalist psychedelic LA sleaze

Sonny Clark - Trio - (Time, JP Overseas)

sure Felser, I'll try to avoid Derek Bailey CDs and related this time. But not much in the spiritual/modern vein here...

I think I can do three more of these lots if there are any takers. Mostly on the weirder/Euro end of the spectrum with a couple of straight ahead titles thrown in for good measure.

Yeah, his son is very good from what little I've heard. There was a board member who went by the name "jazz kat" and I believe he was/is good friends with Duval Jr.

Bassist Dominic Duval, who worked extensively with Joe McPhee and Cecil Taylor, among others, is sadly in his final stages of life after a battle with lymphoma. He is in hospital but the family are taking him to hospice care. There is a gofundme page here if you would like to donate towards making his last weeks more restful. I always liked his playing and this is such a bummer. Update: just got word from the family that he has passed.