clifford_thornton

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.

Huh. YMMV. I feel like his 60s and 70s recordings are often excellent. Not all of them, mind you, but a lot of them.

I don't really have much of a problem with Brubeck's music for what it is, as long as I don't expect it to be anything more. It swings in an off-kilter way, and is interesting and inventive. But it lacks the multiple levels of engagement that, for me, sustain interest and encourage further invention.

I agree that Alto Summit is a better record than Altissimo, though the latter does have the intriguing rhythm section of Joachim Kühn, Palle Danielsson and Han Bennink... LK is probably right about LK I'd want to say that Lee Konitz is "freer" than Desmond, the implications of which could vary depending on your perspective. Or, to put it in Sonic Youth terms, "Lee Is Free."

yeah that is a Qbico/Sagittarius A-Star boot from the WKCR Musicians' Show, which you can stream from the WKCR site for free. The guy who runs those labels is a problem person, to say the least.

I have that Altissimo record - curious one for sure. It was issued in Japan on Philips, not particularly well-known but worth hearing. And for Lestorian tenor these days, one should look no further than Ted Brown, who's still playing and is an embodiment of that history.

I agree with you though I've listened to a lot more Konitz than Desmond. I can remember hearing the Desmond/Mulligan record on Verve (which oddly I still don't own) and thinking it was Konitz at one point! As far as critical writing on the subject, I've not seen any, but it stands to reason there'd be something out there. Sure, Bach's motivic/rhythmic approach does seem to inform both. I'm thinking of the cello suites especially, but the forms in those works certainly were a granular part of something much larger.

Interesting re: Pelzer. I should read that book.

Robert Wood - Tarot - (Edici, FR)

Leo Kottke - 12-String Blues (Live at the Scholar) - Oblivion, US orig

Have or have had all the Strata-East LPs here - missing a copy of the Payne right now, for some reason - but thanks for bringing this up again, as I really want to check out the Ware and Blackwell Frontier dates. I like Izipho Zam quite a bit, but recognize that it's not everyone's cuppa.

From an interview I did with Sunny Murray in 2003 for All About Jazz.

I recall reading somewhere that he and Frank Wright hung out a lot towards the end of Baker's life.

Mal Waldron - with the Steve Lacy Quintet - (America, FR) Mal would've been 90 today.

lots.

has Kalaparusha been mentioned? I can still hear his tenor sound wafting through the 14th St.-Union Square subway terminal. Nice guy. Had some really rough times.

^ Agreed with you on H & F to an extent; maybe they know one another too well at this point? I like the Thirsty Ear disc quite a bit, though. It's well-recorded and the choice of tunes is good. They start off with Dolphy's "17 West," and Reid storms on this one. It's clearly her record throughout. I've heard some very good Jeff Parker but I've also heard a number of things that didn't sit well and were a little too 'gauzy' for my tastes. That might actually be majority and I am not sure Reid's music would benefit from that approach. Rosaly is strong, inventive, and fun to watch live - I'm not sure if he's been captured on record as well as I've seen him play, though.

Excellent article; I have the recent archival LP, which is awesome, and the two Emanem LPs (really good too).