clifford_thornton

Rude...

Re: Ayers, yeah, they do, you're right. There is some interesting musical analysis in there in spite of knotty comparisons (Beethoven's late quartets vs. November 1981 would leave a lot out as a simple dichotomy). If Ms. Mabley is here to "debunk," that doesn't really do much of a service to the music. Mabley not digging it is not "authority," because Mabley hasn't really made much effort with the music or really given much of a shit about it. One doesn't have to like the music but that doesn't mean it's not good or worth someone else's time, or that he didn't do the things he did. Other than that, I can't really say anything that I haven't said before. Superlatives aren't exaggerating, really - if I am guilty of anything, it's in fueling the belief that if one digs Cecil Taylor, Anthony Braxton, 60s Coltrane, and whoever else might fall into that canon, one will likely also enjoy Dixon's music immensely. There is nothing wrong in that.

I don't have any of the Savoy gospel releases, but I've seen some of them and they do look neat.

I don't think of hype as negative. Just spreading the gospel, as it were.

Nothing wrong with 'hype' if you believe that someone's work deserves wider knowledge and/or acclaim.

Even though it is a 60s release, I really wish I'd bought that Doug Carn Trio on Savoy for $25 when I saw it, well over a decade ago. Never seen it offered as a vinyl since that time (though I think it was on CD).

It's mythical, even over here. Seems to have come and gone in a whisker ! Until a CD comes out, I guess I might just have to raise my price ceiling to get a copy. Quite often it's offered in fairly rough shape, too, which is a drag.

I don't recall anyone here comparing Bill Dixon to Webern until Moms did. Also don't recall anyone comparing Dixon to Boulez or Stockhausen until you did. Bill Dixon did what he did - take it or leave it. And it's your right to do the latter if you choose. For me, comparing music from different genres is a waste of time. In the end, there's good music and music that's not. For me, Bill Dixon's falls into the former camp. Others may feel differently. I don't think he would have wanted to have been compared to anyone. Among other things, Bill was taken by the brevity of Webern's pieces and did have a trumpet bagatelle entitled "Webern." Bill liked to say that he "just liked the sound of the word 'Webern' - what if I titled it 'Monk'? It might not have had the same ring to it.'" Picture that being said with a wink. Andrew Raffo Dewar has an interesting analysis of the piece from a musicological standpoint in his MA thesis, which I have at home and cannot quote directly right now. But it was a way to go from the lowest to the highest tones he could produce on the instrument in the shortest distance possible, in simple terms a sort of extended and somewhat particulate glissando. It's more than an exercise and less (perhaps) than a fully fleshed out composition. I am not doing it justice here but that at least gives you an idea. The thing is that composition is too much tied to having other people do the work that you originally wrote/assembled. Is it "composed" or not if only the composer (and in some cases, the sidepeople that the artist chooses to flesh out ideas) does the work? Bill has said that he doesn't want a repertory ensemble performing his music (at least in the ensuing years - who knows how long that will last). But does that mean that it's not great music? Or that it was painstakingly conceived over years of work? I heard a recent CD of Mingus covers, very well-played but without the sense of risk and almost inevitable failure that is part of Mingus' best work when he's there. Most of us would never say that Mingus didn't compose, but I would wager that we'd prefer to hear his compositions with him in the mix, for better or for worse.

Seen it once or twice but never in keepable condition. I like that early Kloss stuff. Nice score, chewy.

I would dig hearing this full session and the Trainwreck, but sadly never seen either seeded. Guess I'm just not hitting the right places.

$500 and someone might pull the trigger...

Mine's a green label of that one too. I wonder if it ever came out in blue label? Yep - got it. Re: Springboard, been trying to get that for over a decade and always come up short. Would love to have a copy.

Spoken like someone who has little interest in the subject. The work is there, so you can take it or leave it. Speaking as someone who was around during his last years, who listened to what he had to say, spent much time with his music, looked through the scores, read his notes, spoke with his students and watched him give advice to musicians (I hesitate, now, to use the word "lessons"), and to trust him to have done the things he said he did or wanted to do, I know that he was/is both a composer and an instrumentalist of a very high caliber. And for me, personally, his music means as much (if not in some instances more) as anyone else's. Nobody else has to have their lives changed by the work for it, and him, to have changed MY life for the better.

That's a fine one, but I haven't spun it in ages. Now: Fenton Robinson - Somebody Loan Me a Dime - (Alligator)

Naked City style.

...in which the rumors of his death will actually be verified...

Blue Note as a contemporary concept is getting very lame.

I always forget about that one.

Gittin' was out as a Japanese CD several years ago. But it is excellent and there is a lot more music from those sessions. The GUO Japos also came out in Japan on CD fairly recently. Gunter Hampel reissued 8th of July on CD in the 1990s, and according to his website, he still has copies. Andrea Centazzo has reactivated Ictus and the Parker/Rzewski is available on CD through that channel. Sonny's Time Now was on Jihad. I'm told the DIW licensing no longer applies, but there are some rights issues with it.

Yeah, Austin got hit with an accidental fire the other day, set by a transient cooking breakfast over an open flame (apparently). They are charging him with arson, even though it was unintentional and he is being very cooperative. Typical level of "respect" from our "fair" law enforcement down here. Anyway, unfortunate that there has been such a loss of property/livelihood because of these fires. Going to Houston this weekend instead of West Texas.

The estate has created some thorns in that one getting reissued. A friend of mine reissued other titles on Seeds and was planning to do that one as well, all legit, but Lee's heirs made it unfeasible. Too bad, because it's a nice record. Yeah and that CD sucks. Except for the fact it has Spring of 2 Blue-Js on it! It's a muddy needle drop. The original LP doesn't have the greatest sound, either, in my recollection. But it's a really fine performance.

Latin Kaleidoscope rules. Just picked up a copy of Faces and have yet to spin it. Fellini 712 doesn't do much for me, but YMMV.

It gives me hope for the idea that the CD is not dead yet that this Bill Dixon record is probably going to sell out its first run pretty quickly.

Guitarist Amanda Monaco