clifford_thornton

Sick.

Randy - s/t - (C Life Records) deep, Nick Cave-like crooning over home recordings of piano, flutes and percussion lent a very austere, lo-fi quality. Earnest and trippy 'outsider' recordings and rather hard to find.

That label was going gangbusters at one point; now it seems like very little is happening, and all digital. I have a suspicion that they aren't exactly raking in the dough.

well, not all critical analysis is "intelligent," so... but yeah, that was generally what I was reaching for. Non-fluff. And I guess at the end of the day this record isn't for me - and perhaps it is because I wish it were more uncouth and savage, rather than less so.

Re: Earland, you're probably right, Jim, and I wasn't around at the time to hear him on the radio or read then-current issues of Ebony, Sepia, etc. (could of course do that now). I don't read much on the landscape of hip-hop, R&B, nu-soul, and the like, and there may be some intelligent coverage of Washington's music from those avenues - I'm not really sure. The Fader was the only hip-hop mag I ever read, mostly because a friend worked for them, and it seems to be a shadow of its former self these days. I wonder if this record had been released as a single 38-minute condensed piece, if it would feel 'better'? Part of the problem with it is that it is absolutely overstuffed. Sure, Earland got in on the double-LP action, but this damn thing is three CDs and they aren't short!

All well-reasoned points. It is getting quite a lot of verbiage, though, and I don't think the same amount of hype would've been levied on your average Charles Earland record in 1973, much less an Alan Shorter LP (Ron Welburn excepted).

Wow - yeah, not comfortable touching that without more coffee, but I do see what you're saying. The main praise I've seen for Washington's music has been from places like Tiny Mix Tapes, Pitchfork, et al., who primarily deal with the contemporary zeitgeist of post-indie-rock fallout. I think his music "sucks" but don't have enough bandwidth to engage it intelligently. What would Darius Jones come up with if he was given a major label budget? Or Micah Gaugh (think he's stepped away from the saxophone, but I digress...) ? Probably a lot more than Washington. Hell, you could go back a few years and dive into some of Matt Shipp's Thirsty Ear collaborations and, even if some of them might seem a little clunky, they're still infinitely more full of possibilities than "The Epic." So yes, it's unquestionably true that there are a lot more young white folks playing the music now, and I understand the viewpoint of some that Washington could be 'taking it back.' Valid point. The problem is that whether you hold it up against Billy Harper or Ingrid Laubrock, "The Epic" isn't particularly good.

The Hazevoet discography of Byas is a pretty stunning piece of work. I think I have it on pdf somewhere (there've been a few computers in between my first seeing it). Caravan can probably help too, of course...

Still need that Wounded Knee Gila LP. Someday... The only records I have on the Spiegelei label are jazz albums - Freedom releases and so forth.

I assume it was an error. Litweiler wrote the notes and they're excellent. My US pressing of the LP from 1980 lists only alto sax but you are correct in that James plays flute on the record as well.

Nice!

There's a story about Richard Williams beating up the saxophonist Frank Smith in Slugs' and breaking his horn. Smith was playing with Paul Bley's group, I believe. Wasn't that long afterward that Smith went out west and split the New York scene. I think he may later have come to terms, somewhat, with free music as he played on Noah Howard's Red Star - a slightly more inside date, but the band does get 'out.'

I've never seen them play on autopilot but some of the records are a bit too dialed-in for me.

I'd deal with Dusty as I have on many occasions before. They buy many collections and pay well. Dunno about Princeton but, semi off-topic, screw DMG and I understand JRM are a shadow of their former selves (probably true for at least the past 15-20 yrs).

I think he played in a Duke Pearson aggregation, too - maybe I'm thinking of someone else though. I feel like people were talking about that Banks interview long after the fact; when I moved to Austin in 06, people who found out I was a jazz fan/writer/etc. were asking me about him and if I ever got to meet him (which I didn't). I think he exacted an influence on the younger players in town. Hannibal is down there now - or at least nearby, in Bastrop - though I don't believe he plays much and doesn't have quite the same 'in' with the local guys.

Booker 'n Brass on Pacific Jazz.

haha yeah I thought of the labels first as well!

I was speaking mostly of his bass playing - is there more I should be worried about?

Musik der Hamar: Südathiopien - (Museum Collection Berlin/West, GER orig 2LP) beautiful chants, ritual music and folk song collection, packaged with typical Museum Collection attention to detail, with a fantastic book and photos. Nice, inexpensive pull from the racks at Academy the other day.

Didn't know about that - huh. I don't think the off night was entirely Konitz' fault - Peacock is pretty rough these days. Baron and Frisell seemed to be enjoying themselves though I felt the guitarist was holding back too much.

yeah, it did.

I don't know where to start but things happen often. The most terrifying - and miraculously the record arrived unscathed, jacket was fine, everything in great shape - was going to the post office to find that the Abdul-Hannan LP I'd bought was shipped in just a plain Priority Mail envelope. I guess the dude had 'never had a problem' but holy sh*t! also Discogs is very nearly wild west in terms of grading and so forth, much like eBay was 15-18 years ago.

Interesting - thanks.

Yeah, I understand that. It took me a while to relate to what Noah Howard was doing, until I got to the point where I realized his intonation could really cut through a large ensemble and had/has an identifiable quality. Kent Carter said Steve Lacy's tone was "like gold and could cut through anything" and I think that's important in itself, whether or not the sound has an individual appeal from moment to moment. Then again, of course it's perfectly all right not to dig someone's sound.

I think I agree with HutchFan, though I'm not knowledgable enough on the Desmond side of things to offer any observations on his music outside/post Brubeck (and only somewhat within the context of Brubeck). Then again, the last time I saw Konitz - in a quartet with Peacock, Frisell and Baron - it was a musical shit-show.