clifford_thornton

Curious connection, I hadn't thought of that. Think I need to spend more time with Phineas Newborn records. He was someone I always "meant" to check into more deeply... Screaming Life of 30 Seconds Over Tokyo, CT

They may not sound alike, but they're both into the hipster-commercial bag too much for my mirror, that is for sure. And Ethan Iverson's attitude is a fair shake better, to put it mildly...

He's a giant that I'm glad is still with us. I had some fine times at the old Velvet ca. 2001-2003 when I lived in Chicago. Great to see him play, but somehow I always got a kick out of him watching from the bar when it was somebody else's turn to raise the bandstand that night.

Well, some of us on the board may still be shitting diapers...

Do you know if Moore is still alive? Or for that matter, Leon Henderson? (Sidenote - Sunny Murray says that Jack Graham, an altoist who played in the Swing Unit on their ESP date, was a cousin of Joe and Leon. Interesting trivia.)

Yeah, FUCK Mehldau. Mehldau --> The Bad Plus --> ???

I remember reading in some of Leroi's writings that Charles Moore was in New York for a while in the mid-60s and worked with Marion Brown, among others. Can anybody confirm this?

Well, I was born in 1977 and didn't really start "hearing" things until the 1990s. That said, much of the music I was exposed to at that time - live or on record - has not worn quite as well for me as that from other times, which I never got to experience when it was "fresh." I've never quite understood why it's been like that for me. Though I think what's important pretty much everywhere is being able to find the good and the intent in a lot of things and if you can get that spirit, that's 99% of it right there. (Shit, I'm starting to sound like JS here!)

You mention the Wynton thing, which is just one of the tacks that's got me more curious in investigating the scene(s) of the '80s, jazz-wise. I'm a child of that decade, and my jazz listening seems to leave out that decade, concentrating either on '60s/'70s or '90s-now. Thing is, I dig a lot of rock that was going on in the '80s - punk/post-punk, no wave, that sorta shit - so it looks like my next step is to hit more of the jazz from that period. The Cadence, Nessa, and Silkheart trees seem to be good for barking up on solid jazz/improv from the '80s, but recommendations are always welcome!

Yeah, I never got too into the CTI/Columbia "fusion" sides upon hearing them (albeit much, much farther after the fact). That said, the version of "Spain" posted here is really solid, well-executed and fun to listen to. Ya gotta tip yr hat to cats who were finding their "thing" and doing it well, even if the results aren't always your cup of tea.

I mean, there's really so much there that one would have to know your tastes like you do to make recommendations. I have a soft spot for free jazz and "improvised music," and there was a lot of really fascinating shit going on in a diverse, worldwide arena just dealing with the "outside." Some of this was by musicians who came up a little earlier, in the '60s, while a lot of it was from cats who really broke onto the scene later. Of course, without Coltrane alive, things really busted open (in both positive and negative ways) for American saxophonists. I mean, part of it is that things blew up in the '60s, musically, so people spent the '70s putting it back together in some really interesting ways. (I might be paraphrasing Steve Lacy, Burton Greene or Kent Carter there) So, not knowing really what you like, I'll just suggest a few of the myrad people/bands that I like who were active in the '70s: Steve Lacy Frank Wright/Noah Howard SUN RA The Jazz Composers' Orchestra series of LPs (Grachan Moncur III, Clifford Thornton, Roswell Rudd, Don Cherry [tho the 1st of the series was cut in '68]) Loft dudes: Frank Lowe, Charles Tyler, Baikaida Carroll, The Revolutionary Ensemble, Charles Brackeen, etc. The World Saxophone Quartet (and the bands of the participants: David Murray, Julius Hemphill, Oliver Lake, Hamiet Bluiett) The Art Ensemble of Chicago (and the bands of the participants, esp. Roscoe Mitchell and Lester Bowie) ANTHONY BRAXTON!!! (+ Muhal, Threadgill, Leo Smith, other AACM figures) Pharoah Sanders, McCoy Tyner, Alice Coltrane and that crew John Surman - esp. The Trio w/ records on Dawn, Ogun, JG... Keith Tippett Derek Bailey, John Stevens/SME, Evan Parker, Tony Oxley, the Bead Records scene Graham Collier/Harry Beckett Peter Brotzmann + the FMP scene Willem Breuker; the Instant Composers' Pool (tho I think the best Dutch jazz is from the late '60s) Albert Mangelsdorff Johnny Dyani Chris McGregor and The Brotherhood of Breath (and participants with recordings on Ogun and Cadillac) The Soft Machine (+ recs by Elton Dean and Hugh Hopper) Don Cherry, Ornette, Cecil Taylor (had a really hot band in the latter part of the decade w/ Lyons, Sirone, Ramsey Ameen and Shannon Jackson) Eje Thelin, Joachim Kuhn, Rolf Kuhn and the "free fusion" scene The Norwegians: Terje Rypdal, Jan Garbarek, Arild Andersen, etc. Japan: Yosuke Yamashita, Masahiko Sato, Masahiko Togashi, and "out" cats like Kaoru Abe, Mototeru Takagi, Masayuki Takayanagi, etc.

Marion Brown - Juba-Lee - (Fontana Dutch orig)

Thanks for posting all this stuff, JS (and enjoying Parkertown's contrib as well) - Not sure how I feel about the Rollins/McCoy duo... just not sure.

I'd clean your cat's teeth for like $15. But then, I'm not what you'd call a "dentist."

Would Monk have hired Charlie Rouse in 1957? Not if Johnny Griffin were available; otherwise, quite possibly. I was looking at the liners to Just Wailin' (Rouse, Mann, Waldron, etc., 1958 I think) today and it was mentioned that Rouse had already played with Monk at that point, though I believe it would've only been a few gigs. Can't add much to the discussion as, I've heard so little of Josh Redman's work I can't even remember what he sounded like. His dad sure was a motherfucker, though.

You know, years ago I was given for free NM original copies of Lloyd's Atlantics and one on Columbia. I scanned through them and was underwhelmed, so I sold them. Wish I had actually "lived" with them for a bit, even though he's still not among the tenor players I enjoy the most. Motian is a player who always makes me happy he's there - thanks for posting this.

Interesting - thanks for posting.

Well, his writing obviously didn't save that first marriage! I find Kagel entertaining - used to play LPs of Exotica and Der Schall to death - though can't say the music isn't "of its time."

$150 isn't that bad - I'd just keep it.

Yes, it's a favorite of mine as well. The plaintive guitar strumming and soft vocals by Joanne Gale at the beginning of "The Rain" really give you no idea what's in store. I'm not as big a fan of Black Rhythm Happening, but it's solid. Ghetto Music's a mind-melter, though.

Well, hold yer horses of facetiousness, everybody - I couldn't get the edit to take. Not that it'd have helped my coveted "one star" rating...

I'd say Happy Sad and Blue Afternoon are my favorites. Funny, the CD's of the Straight albums probably go for considerably more than the vinyl these days!

Yeah, a friend of mine was researching their digitization center for a class last year. UC Santa Barbara's not hurting for dough, I'll tell you that - glad to see it's not all going into political think tanks and football teams.

Best sounding copy, indeed. I rarely keep spares for very long, unless they've got some weird artwork variation (ESPs, for example).

I can't figure out how to add a personal statement... Looking forward to the upcoming releases, Chuck. Hopefully I'll soon have some $$ to spend on records that I can "do the right thing."