clifford_thornton

The second label I've also heard referred to as "rainbow" because of the ABC logo. I just call them black/red... and not to be persnickety, but my spine has a reddish tint to it, rather than the usual bright orange! Though mine doesn't have Genesis labels, it looks like these!

I can't remember but it wouldn't surprise me. Braxton is a ringer, indeed...

Agreed, the Croydon material is amazing. I am not sure if it is currently on CD, and am too lazy to look it up.

To be honest, I haven't really investigated Prime Time that hugely. I can see the present band as an extension of his ideas with that group, however.

One of the best Shepp LPs! However, I've never seen an orange/black pressing. Mine is black/red, which appears to be the usual version.

Right - and published poems and prose analyses of the proceedings (still available from Incus/Compatible, in fact). His writing style sometimes fits very well with the music; at other times its raw emotion seems distant from my own reaction to the music of Bailey and his comrades. Certainly, though, Riley is a "non-idiomatic" writer, or seemed to become one. That's probably the better connection anyway.

Dumpster divers with cell phones?!

Anybody else having trouble downloading this? I could get it to play, but was not prompted to download it.

I really love that America record. It's a shame that it gets so few props (I don't think the NYAQ gets enough props, either). Amen on the Dyani Steeplechase records. Very interesting, indeed. Not being as deeply into the poetry angle as I am the music angle, I can't say what Riley's position in it is. However, friends who publish and publish in respected journals of vanguard writing (both recent and recent past) don't know his work, which I find surprising. Mr. Red forwarded me an interesting interview with him on the subject of Derek Bailey, so I suspect his ties to the music world are greater than those to the word. It's too bad that, for purposes of this discussion, "The Whole Band" isn't what you could call "visible."

Ditto. RIP.

Yes! Great label, though I only have a few of their vinyls. Would like to get that (1st?) Tommy Koverhult and Now's The Frippe Time...

I've seen both Swedish and English Sonets. Most references appear geared to the Swedish/Scandinavian Sonet, which was the primary independent label in the region until PolyGram bought it. I suspect that the UK Sonet was either a subdivision or an entirely different operation. Somebody here probably knows more than me and will chime in disparagingly in about ten minutes.

The ICPs are numbers 2 and 5, for what it's worth. Too bad Mengelberg and Bennink aren't inclined to reissue old material (and nor do they seem to want anybody else to, either). You're right, Schweizer is hip on Willi the Pig, but for whatever reason I'm not a big fan of that LP. Much prefer her work with Rudiger Carl and Louis Moholo (considering the time period), and Tchicai's work with other groups. Ah, thanks for forwarding it along - I'd consulted him a bit when in the "idea" stage but thought he'd seen the published version. Peter Riley's poem "The Whole Band" is a great (lengthy) take on Tchicai and Cadentia Nova Danica - I'll have to credit our own Nate Dorward for hipping me to his work.

Either the Herbie Nichols box on BN, or the Trane Village Vanguard material. I am a twerp.

I voted for Candi/Candy only because of her dad, Hans Dulfer. Despite the dubiousness of some of Hans's recent projects, his work from the '60s and '70s is unequivocally great. His record Candy Clouds, from 1970, is a stunning session of free-afro-latin-psych that has little in common with ANYTHING else going on in the jazz world at the time, Dutch or otherwise. Ditto El Saxofon, The Morning After The Third, his Heavy Soul Music imprint, and his work with Theo Loevendie. I don't know about "sexiness," but I agree that Virginia Mayhew can play; my understanding of Candy is that she's a *smooth* player, though one with at least good blowing genes.

Yeah, the NYAQ sides on ESP and Fontana (and the faux-NYAQ on America, under Rudd's name) are all excellent. Ditto the NYCF, Rufus and Four for Trane. Really, his music took a rather interesting turn with Cadentia Nova Danica. That group, though short-lived, had a pair of wonderful sides on Polydor and MPS. The former is self-titled and the latter is called Afrodisiaca. Beautiful, rhythm-heavy orchestral things with a fair dose of sound-masses and occasional lighter, folk melodies. He also waxed a couple of interesting dates for the Dutch ICP label, one in a trio with Bennink and Mengelberg, the other in a quartet adding Derek Bailey. Poorly-recorded and somewhat "of their time," I still enjoy them, especially the trio. Both are, as near as I can tell, "untitled" (as with most early ICP records). It would be nice to see some of these reissued as well. Despite seeming like a stormer at first, Willi the Pig (reissued on the Unheard Music Series) leaves me a bit cold. But some might disagree. Here's a Paris Transatlantic piece on Cadentia that I wrote a while back. It has since been significantly revised, so please keep that in mind. Cadentia Nova Danica

I remember hearing the original LP some time ago (not the crap TCB version) and thought it sounded good. I subsisted on the crap version for a while but have it in mind to get either the original or a worthy CD variant at some point. The music is very good, in my opinion.

This is actually pretty hard for me - mostly because I get tired of shit real easy, and find it pretty hard to take *all* of someone's work, no matter how much I may say I believe in them. That said, I'd take: Charley Patton (in a convenient box) Albert Ayler (also in a convenient box - though I could be easily pressed to take along Spirits and a coupla ESPs for good measure) Miles (all-encompassing genre-wise to make some other figures unnecessary on an island) Ellington's suites But the fifth is hard - Trane's Impulse sides? Mingus? Monk's Riverside LPs? Jackie McLean? It'd probably be some goofy-ass ringer like Hans Dulfer's Ritmo-Natural or John Tchicai...

More Atomic madness... Quiet Kenny

Being predisposed to the "free" thing or what have you, I think that labels like Eremite, Atavistic, Okka and CIMP, among the domestics, are doing a fine job. Imports: Ayler, Clean Feed, and Not Two seem to be at the top of the heap. That would be for the circles I run in. Fresh Sound New Talent and Sunnyside seem to have the new straight-ahead market cornered, and well. I have not heard as broad a swath of their respective catalogs as I have some of the more free-leaning labels to make a judgement, but both seem to be on top of things. Edit to say: there are TONS of independent labels out there. I just name-dropped a few. Additions welcome.

That's what I think is, in a nutshell, the point of where improvised music can forseeably go - that is, until we're hit on top of our collective heads. So far, for me, that has not happened.

I know Ornette really liked Bob Wills' music, but was unaware they played together.

Was spinning: Eddie Gale - Ghetto Music (BN Liberty original) Now: Ted Daniel Sextet (Ujamaa), excellent session from 1970. Love that Otis Harris' alto playing.

The "My Funny Valentine" on here is out of control! My current squeeze and I were cracking up over it just the other day (she's a jazz head), that and the bizarre liner notes by Barry J. Titus (which she still quotes randomly in the car). Have a nice original LP of this and will give it another spin soon. I've always been fond of this date, both in its cool-but-unsettled sparseness and its occasional freakiness.

Steeleye Span - Below the Salt (Chrysalis) Not bad indeed...