clifford_thornton

I understand that you like these pressings, but clearly that gouge in that picture is not a minor flaw and all of the problems people are having with these $50 pressings is bad for business. Jee-zus.

And oh yeah, what does NPR have to do with ANYTHING? (except that Kevin Whitehead talked about John Tchicai once)

But DUDE - first, all that punk shit you're talking about has a direct analog in the DIY-jazz-underground of the very period you're talking about. Why do you think people like Thurston Moore were so inspired by Arthur Jones and Frank Lowe and Ak-Ba and all that? And there were/are a lot of cats self-producing raw underground improvised music in the wake of the "OG" shit - look through the North Country Distribution pages to get a snippet of at least some of that. It's not thee mainstream (never was), and by the same token I don't think most people who bought Nebraska ever heard of Alan Vega. And Elektra always put out better white-kid protest music than ESP. There's a great photo that Atavistic used on the inner of the Dieter Scherf reissue - it's got a pic of the trio sitting in their broken-down VW tour van. They jam econo! I mean, most current "indie" is utter pap, so the issues of content-driven marketing that you're talking about really go to both the highest and lowest level. You just gotta sift to find the good stuff (and it is there). The same "type" of person who digs a little bit deeper than the Replacements will likely dig deeper than Dave Douglas. Sometimes they are a person who digs deeply in both genres. Brad Mehldau does Tom Rapp - CT

I give Empty Cage an 8. I mean, I don't even mention shit below a 7.

Ghetto Music's cover is beyond soulful, man. That's some druid shit right there!

Wow, I missed this as well. Happy Belated. Or should I say: Happy Belated!!!!

Mention was made earlier of Orpheum leading to Fantasy's buyout, but I thought ABC was in there for a little while there. How did that come about?

I'm with you, man, and I don't think anybody like Sangry, Nessa, Allen would disagree. In fact, there's a little talk about this in another thread about the '75 Down Beat poll winners. Sangry mentioned something about the Disney-World phenomenon, wherein "everybody's welcome." That is both excellent and in some ways problematic - as the cream doesn't rise to the top nearly as easily, if at all. You still gotta fish around there, but damned if I haven't found some fresh cream and even some good yogurt while I'm at it.

Alan Shorter - Parabolic - (Verve Polydor UK) Not spun this in awhile...

This one is a hell of a lot more civil than, like, the OP thread or even the KV thread.

Perhaps this might be part of the "problem"? Yes, perhaps. Perspective can be a "problem," but somebody's always going to have it (hopefully). But doesn't perspective have little to do with the "industry" as we're talking about it here?

No. One can create valuable, compelling and spirited music that is in the tradition of what came before while not being beholden to it. That can occur without the bells and whistles of "newness" (that rarely we hear until much, much later). Here's a review of the new release by the Empty Cage Quartet that I wrote. It's an excellent little record that may not be "jazz' Great Savior" but it proves that that really is not the point. (Review reprinted from Bagatellen).

This thread has certainly inspired me to put the film (and its bonus disc) in the Netflix queue. I look forward to checking it out, and hearing the music.

Well, the banned are certainly a curious lot, so I guess they get stars for uh, "effort."

Yes, there is a reason Val Wilmer titled her book so: it is as serious as your life. I'm going to disagree. Artists wish that jazz or popular culture mattered as much as politics, but that doesn't make it so. It depends on whether you consider jazz analogous to art or to pop culture. I spend time with a Bill Dixon or a Lee Morgan record like I do with a Barnett Newman painting, not like I do watching Talladega Nights.

I don't think Clem or Sangry or Allen (well, maybe Allen) are saying jazz as a whole is "boring." I think that they are saying that certain approaches aren't that compelling and are getting maybe more positive verbiage at the expense of, you know, stuff that's got more conviction to it. But you also gotta remember that those guys (and a lot of others here) have been listening to (and in some cases, playing or recording) this music longer than some others of us have been alive or at least following jazz. If I had been, you know, buying Coltrane LPs when they came out, would I be paying any attention to Vandermark? Probably not. That's not to say KV doesn't have conviction or can't play, it's just that he's certainly another notch from where somebody like Coltrane was (duh). And the scene now is pretty goddamn different. I mean, we work with what we got - and though I would've enjoyed living back in "the day" (some aspects of it anyway), I am perfectly happy experiencing the life I've experienced. It just happens to be a more fragmented culture and jazz is, well, clearly in a different state than 40 years ago. I would not say it's broken, though.

I like the later Lee stuff. Would be interested in checking out that Fresh Sound CD, even if it is, you know...

Yes, there is a reason Val Wilmer titled her book so: it is as serious as your life.

Thanks for the info - too bad indeed about Henderson. Might be time to give those three a call...

I'm quite sure Hiroshi Yamamoto went into academia and left music. Kinda like Steve Immerwahr of Codeine. And we wonder why... It's funny, I was just talking to somebody today about Bill Dixon (a living Giant) and the new album, which I like a lot, that's on Thrill Jockey (irrelevant mega-"indie" if there ever was one). I mean, even they are not willing to put advertising dough behind what's probably one of maybe two quite significant releases on the damn label... so in this climate, it's quite easy to see how the bottom line is really just it - the bottom line. And just ask Jim or Randy how much money they still owe on the Big O records - a guy like Josh Redman is probably doing okay in a middle-class way, but I can't imagine that even he is immune to lack of promotion/sales/marketing threats that, in some ways, seem to drive the industry. (lucky for Vandermark, his wife is fairly well-off) I mean, the best stuff is usually found in the margins, but living and making a living there sure ain't easy.

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...