clifford_thornton

In the young'uns bunch! But at 28, I find myself still old enough to know better in most situations.

Heliocentric v. 3 is pretty good - especially the first long track. I reviewed it for Paris Transatlantic some months back; here's the link: Ra and Ayler on PT

There are some beautiful records on that list, for sure... Albert Ayler on Debut? Frippe and Don Cherry on Bird Notes? Unity Trio on Salaam? All of those I would love to get, but of course for a hell of a lot cheaper!

This may sound kind of crazy, especially coming from a self-professed Lacy-phile, but I hadn't heard Reflections in years. Finally picked up a JP vinyl copy the other day to "try it again," and it is so great. Especially great because I know what came after, and how important Monk was to both Steve and Mal - as a bridge to serious sonic expansion and investigation. I hadn't heard it since owning a CD copy briefly about ten years ago; at that time, I was itching for something else and didn't keep it. Just thought I'd share.

John Tchicai is one of my favorites - especially his post-NY stuff from the late 60s into the 70s - but I have heard his new one is kinda boring. Haven't picked up much recent Tchicai except for the stuff with Adam Lane or Mat Marucci, and he's very strong with them. Saw JT do some solo stuff recently and it was real good, but the gigs he was on with Lane, Altschul and Paul Smoker a few years back were phenomenal... Supposedly he has retrieved some reel-to-reels of his Cadentia Nova Danica group playing with Musica Elettronica Viva in the late '60s - that should be really far out stuff, indeed.

Ah, how did that "i" get in there? Probably because most people I know who even have any idea who he is pronounce it with a long "A" sound... It took me long enough to figure out that drummer Cees See was pronounced with a hard "C," analogous to the "K" in, well, "Kees" (yeah, they sound the same). Why didn't he just stick with the easy spelling? Or was he trying to distance himself from Haazz?

I've always preferred the sound of the LPs to McMaster or RVG editions, though the TOCJs for some reason I like quite a bit. Unit Structures is a fold-down, but it sounds very nice and full to me in mono. Especially the title track - Silva and Grimes are very well-captured.

Freddie Hubbard Breaking Point (craptastic UA with stains on the cover) Next up - if I can find it in the moving boxes, maybe I'll spin Compulsion (Liberty Stereo, perfect copy).

I think I paid $40 for mine, and it was well worth it. Still, the McMaster is useless so hopefully they do some sort of reasonably solid domestic re-release of that one. As for the Rivers stuff, I have all of 'em on LP so I couldn't remember how they were reissued.

The cover on that Konnex is gorgeous... but I don't know anything about the record. Brotzmann usually yields high returns, except I never could get into the stuff with Drake.

Norah Jones, if the "Blue Note" tag is to be believed!

Especially since Contours was an RVG; I think the latter is the lesser of the two. But then again, I always get the "insane" tag for slagging any of Rivers' BN oiutput - and especially when I slag Contours.

Yeah, side two of that record is phenomenal. Freedman is a motherfucker too.

Though I like Kuhn and especially his work in the 60s/70s with brother Rolf, I cannot say with certainty whether his interpretations of Ornette are particularly interesting. He's a great vertical player, but rhythmically there are so many more nuanced pianists... especially necessary for the OC songbook. Just my two cents.

He did, and does. Unfortunately hundreds of tapes were lost in the aforementioned fire - and how many versions of "Ida Lupino" do you think the trio(s) did? Lots...

No, I don't have that Von record. Add it to the list, I guess... For whatever reason, I am not a huge fan of Sam Rivers, though I do like him all right. It's strange, because I like a number of people who are out of a similar bag - and in theory, anyone who is a bridge between Wayne Shorter and Frank Lowe should be up my alley. Whatever, again another thread...

Shit, I forgot all about that. Good luck finding it; remember seeing it a few years ago and then let it slip away. I'll bet it's a good album, though! I accidentally started a rumor once that there was a Dieter Scherf-Paul Lovens duo on LST (in addition to the trio), but apparently that doesn't exist. Too bad; would've been cool...

Recordings on the BYG label were never mixed very well. Hence, the "Bass? You Goofed!" comment. You're lucky to get much of either bass or piano on half the BYG catalog.

I prefer Calo Scott, but Carter isn't bad. Definitely better form on The Quest.

Yes, let's all hope that Rusch doesn't record that band. Spirit Room? Spirit away any attempt at good audio... As for sound on Eremite, some are better than others, but I haven't really had much to complain about on the recent ones other than musical quality of Parker and Drake, but that's for another thread.

Hopefully by some kismet he reads it, too! Thanks for the input!

I too recommend the autobiography, Stopping Time. It's not the most challenging read ever, and you can probably go through most of it in a bathroom sitting, but the stories are priceless.

Funny, those are the same two I was thinking of!

Now why THAT didn't make the back cover of an Actuel we'll never know...

Yeah, well, you missed out - it was really, really good. I too hope that some amalgam of this group gets the Eremite treatment. Fielder is a motherfucker. Look out for an AAJ interview in the near future.