clifford_thornton

I've seen the Enhance LP around for $5 or less. Never bought it, though Eugene Chadbourne seems enthused... The band looks pretty good, actually. I'd forgotten the lineup. I can only imagine what such a group would sound like live, however.

Invented emotion = histrionics. Great artists shy away from histrionics.

I've wanted to get those Beckett LPs for years - this'll be the chance to finally have 'em in some form. I also look forward to the NJO. Can't speak from a perspective of Colosseum familiarity w/r/t Hiseman, but he is on some excellent jazz records from the late '60s (add Howard Riley's Discussions on Opportunity) and plays excellently loose freebop in that context. I would patently disagree with Lemer as an Andrew Hill stylist; ambiguous, sure, but way more rhythmically left-field than most of Hill's work. Bley I would say is a closer connection. I really like that Local Colour LP a lot, and wish he'd recorded more with his own band. I would like to hear the Mike Taylor - that'll be on my list too I suppose. The vinyl is rather scarce on that one!

I agree on the broadness of AAJ - it's good to have on the one hand, interviews with Dave Rempis and on the other Maria Schneider, both on front page. However, it's a tug-of-war between the historical/academic and the currently hip, and though I tend to hit the former a bit more regularly, there's an attraction of the latter that's hard to deny. I mean, it's living music so some of that life has to be found now, right? And each contributor (in theory) has a talent/area that allows AAJ to be what it is (or might be) - though there is also that tug-of-war between giving people the chance to stretch out for the first time, and to maintain some sort of regular base of writers. Re: label profiles, yeah I've done a bunch. It's interesting to see what is happening on that end, as so much of the music's history has been documented as a commercially-recorded medium. Evolution in the studio vs. evolution on the bandstand (or in the head) is a fascinating thing.

Alabama Feeling and Tes Esat in one day? Think you can handle it, Ak-Ma? I like both of those records quite a bit... as for electric bassists, Earl Freeman's my man, but Williams isn't a slouch by any means. I think Charles Stephens may be the player holding Alabama Feeling together, keeping it from becoming a complete mess - but even in the messier parts, it's still really nice. Sabu Toyozumi is an amazing drummer, and that Nadja record is pretty sweet. His duos with Abe are unreal, however...

When I got it the first time around, it was as a promo for a radio station that probably never plays it. Was unable to score a second copy for myself, and it bums me out still...

Ditto.

I find nothing wrong with side 1 of Tauhid, though I'm not that into the second side - there's yr empty calories (though the short piece is nice). Haven't heard some of the later Impulses, but probably would buy if I saw them cheap. Have heard good things about Elevation and Live at the East, neither of which I have... Carlos Ward's recollection of the Murray date is that Pharaoh quit when they got to S.F. (driving) and Dewey was "hired" in his place. I say "hired" because the story is that Sunny drove them to a theoretical gig at the Both/And, drove them from NY to SF, and it wasn't even happening. They apparently played in a loft with Dewey and maybe it was recorded...

Suri doesn't exist.

That's a great story. Dick Berk is a wonderful drummer, too.

I hear you re: the Tippett Polydor, but consider that he was working with Ronnie Scott in the late '60s and though he certainly knew the (slightly older) heavies, Tippett wasn't quite there yet himself. Honestly, it took about another year for those guys to really take it there. You listen to Dean, Tippett, etc. in 1970 and it's a whole 'nother story. But that said, I still get into the Polydor. It's a strong record.

Sven-Ake Johansson - Schlingerland - (SAJ original) a solo percussion record that really gets into yr skull. Sometimes I wonder if he's got tape-delay going on, or if he just plays that way...

Gunnar Lindqvist G.L. Unit - Orangutang! - (EMI Odeon Swedish original) Don Cherry meets the Brotherhood of Breath in a very disjointed but supremely heavy session. Maffay Falay, Sven-Ake Johansson, Bernt Rosengren, Bengt Frippe Nordstrom, and Bengt Berger are among the cast of thousands...

Hans Dulfer & Ritmo-Natural - The Morning After the Third - (Catfish) Sick free Afro-Latin/yeh-yeh with Jan Akkerman, Arjen Gorter, Jan Jacobs, Appie de Hond, Paul van Wageningen, Steve Boston, and Groentjie. Dulfer is the shit!

Literally ! No! That appears to be where the problems START!

The paper does pay its contributors, actually, though one couldn't "live" on it. The site doesn't pay. I tend to go long in my reviews, but if hackles are raised, I edit them down and they tend to turn out a lot better. Haven't had any problems otherwise, so I guess I must be doing something right. Good luck, CJ, and let us know when your first slew goes live.

YES.

...and says a lot, too.

You Are Here, I am There - Polydor, 1969 Dean, Charig, Evans, Clyne, Marshall, Tippett Dedicated to You, But You Weren't Listening - Vertigo, 1970 Dean, Charig, Evans, Whitehead, Babbington, Gary Boyle, Tony Uta, Wyatt, Howard, Spring I like both of these quite a bit. He was doing a lot more than I was at 21!

Between the mommy and A&M, I'd say Funny Rat has gone into a totally different time zone.

I'm fond of Blueprint, as well as the Ovary Lodge records (which this essentially is). It's really spare - I mean REALLY spare - but the canvas can get pretty tumultuous at times, even when it seems like very little is going on. Of course, there are some waves of extreme density that, considering the barely-louder-than-the-pressing-noise quality of the quiet passages, makes for really seasick contrasts. Septober Energy is a solid record, though I don't find myself spinning it that often. Ambitious and noble, with some fine soloists and some great writing, even if it doesn't work all the time - I would say the same thing about Frames. The Tippett small groups are where it's at for me; I can dig equally on Ovary Lodge or the groups he led with Elton Dean, Mark Charig and Nick Evans. "Wa-hey!"

Hans Dulfer & Soulbrass Inc. - Live at the Bohemia Jazzclub - (Stichting) Great '69 greeeazze with a "free" edge. Dulfer, Gorter, Steve Boston, Rob Kattenburg, Herbert Noord and the great baritonist Henk van Es.

Yikes!

Yeah, I've read about those things. Heavy shit. But where's the "herat?"