clifford_thornton

Or the Frank Lloyd Wright on Caedemon when I'm looking for Frank Wright LPs...

Paul Bley Quintet - Barrage - (ESP original red label mono) - a somewhat odd classic, hearing Carla Bley's compositions played by Marshall Allen and Milford Graves!

I'd say there were a lot of bands as good or better than some of the Miles groups, especially of the '60s, so I think a lot of it would have to do with marketing and availability of the music. But why him? I mean, what if Columbia pushed the Burton Greene Quartet as much as it did Miles' records in '67 or '68? Presenting Burton Greene might be in some ways more interesting musically than Nefertiti - and the former does have some 'inside,' almost populist moments to it also (read: radio-friendly), so why not? Or, for that matter, Atlantic/Vortex could've pushed the hell out of Byard Lancaster, but they probably did not. Then there's Impulse and the Albert Ayler sides starting with Love Cry, on which there are a number of short, playlist-ready tunes that "anyone can hum." But I digress... I suppose Miles' popularity might've started with the Gil Evans sides, which certainly would've appealed to the fascination with big bands and orchestral jazz, as Allan implied earlier, but his appeal certainly has to go beyond that. Certainly there were pop and rock records selling well then, so the advent of "rock" certainly didn't have to be the reason behind the alienation of young audiences to jazz, did it? And I would think Miles sold hugely even with the boom in rock music factored in. Again, I wasn't "there," so it's interesting to me how these cards were played during that time.

Wonder if they'll pay up? That seems crazy, but not improbable these days...

That is a nice-looking and very user-friendly discography. Woody Shaw was in Prince Lasha's band intermittently during the mid- to late-80s, as they toured Europe together for a time. I'll try to get the details on exact dates and personnel from Prince, but here are some interview snippets (from my interview with Prince at AAJ) - Last Train to Yugoslavia is a proposed release, not out. "One of the main festivals I did was ‘Prince Meets The Shaw,’ and that will be on Last Train to Yugoslavia. “It’s here, it’s here, Prince meets the Shaw and it’s new.” I did “Nuttin’ Out Jones,” “Oriental Flower” by McCoy Tyner, “Music Matador,” “Church House Blues” by myself, “You Stepped Out of a Dream,” “The Gypsy,” “What’s New,” “Last Trane to Yugoslavia,” and “Two Colors of Bird.” I had Walter Smuggles on bass, Robert De Jarno on piano, Woody Shaw trumpet, my son Prince Lasha on drums and myself on alto and baritone sax. This was in Novosard, Yugoslavia. There was an article called “Seeing Coltrane and Dolphy – Prince Lasha and the Firebirds” about it." and... "When I took Woody Shaw with me on some gigs in Eastern Europe back in ‘88, we played quite a bit with baritone, alto and trumpet, and I had my son on drums, and it was just beautiful. Woody called me ‘Uncle Prince’ all the time, and he thought we should go back to New York with this [band] and see if it went over. Woody had his first gigs with me and Eric [Woody Shaw appears on both Iron Man and Conversations]. I have a CD of this band that I’m going to release as Last Train to Yugoslavia. I played a lot of my own tunes, some standards that Woody called, and “Oriental Flower” by McCoy Tyner [originally recorded on Illumination!]. We played “Gypsy” and “Stardust” and just some beautiful music! I was listening back to it, and I thought ‘is this me or is this Miles and Bird?’ I was listening to it over and over, it sounds so incredible, and it took me way back in time. It’s kind of mystic, because he played his first gig with me, and he passed away when we came back from this tour. But the concert was videotaped as well, and I also videotaped the gig with Odean and I where I got the standing ovation at Yoshi’s. It seems like any time Odean and I get together, something mystical and magical happens!"

Yeah, it looks really good. I've seen the LP on a couple of lists for around $25, which just might be the right price at this point...

I didn't know you had such a nice ass, Ubu!

Haven't seen that guy in a while!

I was gonna do the same thing! Wonder if it was all that sweet potato pie!

That is pretty cheap for the Curson. Did you get the Cecil from James?

In a weird way, sorta classy! Thanks for those!

I paid about a bill for the original, but there is a Japanese reissue that you could get for about $20-$25 I would think.

I've got a Japanese of that one; still trying to get a friend of mine to sell me his original!

Archie Shepp - Yasmina, A Black Woman - (BYG Actuel) Second side, with Mobley, Burrell, Malachi and Philly Joe!

Bremen '72 is pretty good IIRC. I think I have that somewhere... Sorry man, I can't dig Allan Holdsworth or Karl Jenkins (tho he was fine with Graham Collier - what happened?!?), and therefore Six didn't last too long in the shelves... That's an interesting observation you made about disliking guitars in jazz-rock outfits. Shit, 2/3 of the new Cellar Door box is without McLaughlin, and it smokes. McLaughlin is under-miked on his appearances, anyway, so it's not like he gets into the fray too much. It's definitely not 'necessary' to this end of the music, though a lot of folks think it is... Way Back When (Surman) is another fine example of guitar-less fusion, as would be most of the Don Cherry recs mentioned. But then there are sides like Where Fortune Smiles that remind one of how bad-ass heavy electric guitar work can sound in a jazz-rock context. Side two of that one sounds like something the Vandermark 5 would've cut in the early '90s, back when they were skronky and hung out with Weasel Walter.

That's Manny's program, not Fontana's! Juba-Lee is great, but it ain't fusion!

I don't think Marion liked the movie much, or Marcel Camus for that matter!

Yeah, I suspect that as well. As for Spirits, only seen the Debut and Transatlantic versions (the latter is what I have)... Though it took some searching, the Rod Levitt has been found - only one copy I've ever seen record of in this version! Not that Rod Levitt is that hot, but...

Peter Brotzmann Trio - For Adolphe Sax - (first FMP edition, not the BRO unfortunately) - I never really got the Litweiler quote about this record as "For Albert Ayler, it should have been..." as this bears only a passing resemblance in instrumentation and occasional phrasing to Spiritual Unity.

Marte Roling Fontanas I realized I never posted the link to this... so here it is. Any more info would be greatly appreciated - the Spirits session is the most confusing: never seen an actual copy in this configuration, and its proposed catalog number is the same as that used for Ghosts (Debut/Fontana). Brownie, do you have a copy of the Marte Roling Spirits? Admittedly found this old thread googling Danish Debut because I really want DEB-138! That said, I don't want to pay $300 for it either, so probably will have to go without... (or, continue limping along on a Fantasy pressing)

Ak: yes, I do like Embryo's Reise quite a bit. Have yet to get a nice copy of The Call, though it's on my list. Christian Burchard did do some other work with Mal, which appears to be available both from the Embryo site as well as various Euro-improv trees. Brown Rice never really "took" for me, though the band looks solid on paper. I sort of wish that there was a complement to Brackeen's Rhythm X with Lowe in for Chuck - not that I don't like his playing a ton, but it would be cool to hear the rest of the players there - Cherry, Haden, Blackwell - with Frank. I don't know what the hell is going on with the MPS reissue program - did those CDs of Gittin' to Know Y'All and Afrodisiaca ever actually come out? Or, for that matter, Birds of Underground? They need a concentrated reissue program, as does the Fontana modern jazz catalog - but that's another story altogether!

I was gonna do that earlier and just didn't have the cajones!

I'd be interested in hearing the ways Columbia marketed Miles - that is, before they could market him to rock audiences. I mean, obviously he generated enough pull for Columbia to want him from Prestige, but not having "been there," it would be good to know just how this swell of interest was generated among the record-buying public during the '50s and early '60s.

In the spirit, he could have thought of a more creative action, I would think!

Le Temps Fou I want it. If only I had a grand to blow on "a" record, this might be one I'd get in the mix for... well, this and about twenty other things!