clifford_thornton

Jane's playing is fine on that Pharaoh (and enjoy it on the Mingus Jazz Workshop side too), but I have to wonder how things would've differed sans piano. Patillo can swing - dig the first Simmons on ESP for more proof - and Bennett and Foster could certainly keep things rolling. Just a thought. Still need a clean LP copy of Live at the East...

I heard it was more mainstream. I'd like to get the progression from this to his later stuff nailed down; it's a pretty interesting and unique course that's luckily well-documented on LP. This evening: Michel Portal - Splendid Yzlment - (CBS-AKT orig) Al Shorter - Tes Esat - (America)

Looks pretty harmless to me!

Giuseppi Logan - Quartet - (ESP Original stereo) New York Contemporary Five - Consequences - (Fontana Japanese pressing)

How are we positing Shepp's re-evaluation of his playing from the 1970s on? How are we positing, in a different light, Frank Stella's paintings after the early '70s? Shepp was at his zenith pre-blowout and Stella should never be allowed near a metal shop. Is there an end to the line?

Now THAT'S an obscure reference! I can't really add anything to what you guys have said. I wasn't "there" at the time. Sure, it's easy to fall for a lot of smoke without much fire in the belly, and it does happen, but MC, in his quote, seems to be discounting nearly an entire genre of music on the charge that there were some fakers. There also were some lesser talents playing changes who some people harangue MC about reissuing on Mosaic, day in and day out... and the AACM guys weren't all tinkling bells and measured tones, either. Some of that shit is fierce. Dig on Lester Bowie's orchestral material ca. 69/70 for a bit of that. As for "rage," great art can come in opposition, sure, and a fire in the belly can burn away the filth and prime the landscape for regeneration. Maybe idealistic, but... Giuseppi Logan is my co-pilot, and Frank Smith my navigator.

That's the only of Ray's LPs that I don't have. Really dig Rites and Rituals and June 11, 1971, though the Intercord isn't bad either.

Cuscuna... well, I would admit some surprise from this end reading something so dismissive. I mean, he DID license a bunch of Alan Bates Joints and yet there's the whole "avant-garde trainwreck" thing which, in my estimation, goes further for him than Tyrone Washington. I mean, one can surely revise one's opinion, with time, of certain music (as I've done with SY Daydream/etc), but when you're in a position of taste-making, it's important not to poo on the spoon that, as a babe, fed you.

Barry Altschul - You Can't Name Yr Own Tune (Muse) w/ Sam Rivers, George Lewis, David Holland and Muhal.

"The influx of creative technically proficient musicians from Chicago, St. Louis and Detroit shoved a lot of the screaming pretenders off the scene. Freedom was no longer equated with anger and lack of musicianship." Firstly, though the AACM/BAG cats were certainly influential, I wouldn't say they "replaced" the post-Trane/Ayler players by any means. The AACM guys, too, were early on charged with the same "angry poseurs" mentality... not that there isn't "bad" art, but it's an easy cop-out due to lack of understanding.

Maybe I should add that that quote seems to be full of shit.

Wilber Morris - Wilber Force (DIW) w/ Denis Charles and David Murray.

Cats. In Sinks.

I've heard of that incident.

Yes. I especially enjoy Dickerson's Peace, with Cyrille and Lisle Ellis. The Duke Jordan is good, and I've had the Hills before and enjoyed them (why I didn't hold on to them...?). All of the McLeans are strong as well. Few of those I should replace, as the covers are toast...

If yr talkin' late '60s stuff, I would expect the cast of non-Cuscuna-ordained blowhards to include Messrs. Wright and Lowe, as well as people like Byard Lancaster, Marzette Watts, Linda Sharrock, Arthur Doyle et al. The Arista-Freedom series aside, I can't really imagine MC jamming Black Beings and things of that ilk. Do I underestimate? Perhaps, but... I have a lot of reverence for that post-Coltrane NY Fire Music, but I can understand the backlash against it, too.

BTW, Brownie, yours wasn't the black cover with purple silkscreen? A few test pressings went out like that to reviewers, before the jacket was completed.

The way Bernard tells it, the Town Hall material was slated for ESP first and then Ornette took the tapes to Blue Note. But hey, I wasn't there in 1965.

Yeah, it's good. Never heard a Curson LP that I didn't like, as a matter of fact. That Collier is wonderful!

That AT album is a smoker, isn't it? Of course, the Hill album isn't exactly chopped liver either. Yep, the AT is an excellent album. Very under-rated ! And hard to find!! at human prices sidewinder is not human... Mine's a Japanese pressing, but it sounds great (mono) and is a hip session!

The Town Hall story is a mess, and Bernard has discussed it with me in a fair amount of detail. I understand that ESP only had one of the tapes, a copy from the master that they had repaired due to some audio problems. This became ESP-1006. Ornette later took the masters to BN but they were unreleased, and I'm not sure who has them now. The original Chappaqua Suite was issued both as a French and UK CBS title, with a reissue in the '70s in Japan on Sony, followed by the 1996 Columbia France reissue. The Ravi Shankar soundtrack was issued in the States, and I assume for foregin markets as well. I wonder if contractual issues were the reason the Ornette didn't come out here?

RIP Kudra.

I'm not sure I've heard enough of what KB's done lately to justify any opinion on such matters. Saw him in a trio with Ingrid and it wasn't too great. That said, his ESP is really wonderful and I've gotten some serious mileage out of the Calig and Quark dates too. Also dig his work on the Marzette ESP and my namesake's Freedom and Unity (Third World Productions). Unfortunately, I can't say the same for the Muun Music Universe set... yeechh. The master tapes for the ESP are long gone, from what I understand. Not that that stops people from reissuing things, but...

I don't think Wadud plays anymore. Would love to get that Unity Trio LP!!!

Cool - I can replace my cassette.