Mark Stryker

Miles is absolutely on fire here, July 7, 1983, Montreal -- the strongest and most creative trumpet playing from him post-1980 that I have heard -- especially early in the concert. This opening "That's What Happened" is jaw-dropping, followed by a commanding slow blues, "Star People." He cools for a bit, before starting to heat back up on "It Gets Better" and reaching full boil again on "Hopscotch." The band is super-tight, focused, burning: Bill Evans, John Scofield, Darryl Jones, Al Foster, Mino Cinelu. Anybody know of other performances floating around from this period that equal or surpass this one? (Apologies if there's a previous thread about this concert. I couldn't locate one.) youtube.com Speak (That's What Happened) (Live at Theatre St-Denis, Montreal, Canada - July 7, 1983)

FWIW, here's a nutty bit of trivia. Between 1970 and 2011, Watanabe -- who turns 94 tis coming February -- made quartet records with the following rhythm sections: Chick Corea, Miroslav Vitous, Jack DeJohnette Cedar Walton, Sam Jones, Billy Higgins Hank Jones, Ron Carter, Tony Williams James Williams, Charnett Moffett, Jeff Watts Gerald Clayton, Ben Williams, Jonnathan Blake Watanabe has never been a fave of mine, though I certainly respect the career. He has, however, long been a big star in Japan, and that has led to opportunities. Some of these LPs were recorded live, or were made in the wake of live performances in Japan. I find the generational and stylistic spread of these trios fascinating and it has me thinking about other hornmen for whom one could build such a list of quartet records. For example, Art Pepper's discography shows quite a range over two generations, but he didn't live long enough to record with a NEXT generation that might be akin to Clayton/Williams/Blake, etc.

I'm sure the confusion came in because "Jay Jay" is based on the changes to "Confirmation." That's not an excuse, of course. Even if you didn't recognize the melody to "Jay Jay," it's obvious that it's a different composition (slight as it is, with just four bars of a repeated melody that kicks off the three A sections, followed by four bars of a drum break, with an improvised bridge). As producer, Feldman has the ultimate responsibility for getting it right, but it would be interesting to know who, when, or how exactly the error got into the bloodstream of production. On the broader issue of the overall performance, I won't make any definitive claims based on one sample coming through cheap computer speakers. But color me skeptical. Jordan and Klook sound fine, but Haig and Ware sound clunky and scuffling, the trio isn't together, the time is unsteady, and the tempo drops. The early generation pickup on the bass does Ware no favors either. I hope the rest of the set is better. I will also say this: Having heard many performances over the years by great players, even legends, in the later years of their careers, in combinations that either haven't worked together in decades (or ever), a recording or gig can look super enticing on paper but then not deliver the goods at all on stage or in the studio. Or the music may be rewarding to some degree or another in the moment in the room; but then those generous feelings among a live audience rooting for it all to be great and coloring perception in real time may not survive on tape.

Top Bands I Wish I Saw in Person King Oliver’s Creole Jazz Band with Louis Armstrong in 1923 Duke Ellington Orchestra in 1940 and 1960 Charlie Parker in good circumstances, c. 1953 Miles Davis Sextet with Red Garland and especially Philly Joe Jones in 1958 John Coltrane Quartet in 1965. George Adams-Don Pullen Quartet in the early '80s

Thanks for the sale! BTW, the violist Stephanie Griffin is also part of the "Hemphill Stringtet" that plays Julius Hemphill's quartet music on this disc from last year. https://outofyourheadrecords.bandcamp.com/album/the-hemphill-stringtet-plays-the-music-of-julius-hemphill

Here's what I say about Lateef's String Quartet No. 3 in my chapter about him in Jazz from Detroit. "Much of Lateef’s formal concert music remains unpublished and unrecorded. Lacking classical-world connections, Lateef was disheartened that he couldn’t find conductors or orchestras to take up his symphonies; three of the four have never been played. His chamber music has fared better. The lucid and deeply felt 14-minute String Quartet No. 3—premiered posthumously in 2015 by the Momenta Quartet in New York—unfolds in four concentrated movements that evoke the expressionism of Bartok and Berg. But Lateef’s fanciful gestures and development are his own. Intervals of a fourth and fifth play recurring roles, and violin melodies sigh with Middle Eastern modality. A burst of tonal melody and harmony near the end thrills the heart." Video of that premiere performance can be seen on YouTube (see below). The violist in the Momenta Quartet, Stephanie Griffin, was nice enough to send me a copy of the score when I was I writing my book.

👍 👍 Thanks, John.

Let me try and respond to both of these thoughtful pushbacks in one note: First, to JCAM -- please don't lump me in with folks who both complain that jazz isn't respected/you just don't get it crowd. That's not at all analogous to what I am saying. For example, I do not own the Dean Benedeti recordings of Charlie Parker because the combination of poor sound and incomplete performances makes listening too much of a chore. However, I recognize that Bird often sounds fantastic. So, in this instance, I am in the same boat as folks who consider the sound on The Tiberi Tapes a bridge too far -- and in no way do I consider pompous those willing to tolerate the poor sound in deference to Bird's genius. But let go deeper, because my job as a critic is to analyze the music and parse nuances. This will take me into territory that Stompin at the Savoy raises. (And thanks to him for expressing his respect and admiration for my work; I return that respect for his knowledge, passion, and postings.) Objectively, the sound quality of The Tiberi Tapes is much superior to the Benedeti tapes. However, based on my lifetime of experience with the music as a listener, critic, and player, I believe that as great as Bird plays on these tapes, there's nothing here that's tells me anything new about his art or development or is objectively greater in musical terms than what is available on MANY other, better-sounding bootlegs -- with the exception of instances on the Benedeti tapes where we get to hear Bird improvising on songs he never recorded commercially or weren't already captured on other bootlegs. On the other hand, The Tiberi Tapes actually do tell us new and important things about Trane's artistic development, clarify his progress on certain fronts, and capture a level of playing that is, in fact, either as great or uniquely great compared to other Trane bootlegs and, in the case of Good Bait, one of the single greatest things ever captured on tape by the Coltrane quartet. So, when Stompin poses the question of whether these recordings are a special departure from the rest of the universe of Coltrane recordings my answer is: Absolutely. The crux of Stompin's complaint is that I do not offer any real evidence for my claims so they sound like the subjective enthusiasm of a fan rather than facts in evidence. He specifically cites as "word salad" my references to Trane's "revelatory melodic lyricism" on Giant Steps. Now, in fairness to Stompin, perhaps that does sound a little vague. But in fairness to myself, I was summarizing part of my Tablet review with these words. However, I actually cite more specific details in my piece to buttress my claim: "The challenging harmony and racehorse tempo of the studio recording of 'Giant Steps' pushed Coltrane into well-practiced scale and arpeggio patterns when he improvised. He sometimes sounds as if he’s chasing the chords through a maze rather than improvising true melodies. The head trumps the heart. But the heart fights back on the live version of 'Giant Steps' that opens The Tiberi Tapes. The less frenzied tempo allows Coltrane’s solo to breathe with greater melodic lyricism and rhythmic flexibility." That's what I wrote for a general interest magazine, but if I were writing for, say, an audience in which I knew the majority of whom could read music, I could have gone deeper and describe specific phrases in technical terms or offered transcriptions of certain phrases as examples. As far as "Good Bait" is concerned, I know that in my post, I simply assert its greatness, but in my review, I devote rmore than 200 words to analyzing the performance and make my case. I'm sorry not to include those paragraphs here, but with the review behind a paywall, I do not want to vioate the trust of the magazine by giving too much away here. To reply to one of Stompin's other questions -- the reference to McCoy at 22 was specifically to his solo on Giant Steps, where he was actually 21 not 22 (my bad; it's correct in my review). However, McCoy sounds amazing on all of the Tiberi tapes. This set is a major document in terms of McCoy's legacy too. So, to answer Stompin's overarching charge, I do not believe that I am sneaking in opinion masquerading as facts. And I would slightly restate his summary of my position. I would say that while the sound on The Tiberi Tapes is acceptable to me given the unique quality of the music, others may have different, legitimate opinions about (a) how poor the sound actually is and (b) whether it prevents them from enjoying the music. That's fine. As I said previously, YMMV. However, I do believe, based on the evidence, that these are significant, revelatory recordings. To the extent that criticism and history supported by analysis and evidence can establish Truth ("facts") that folks would recognize as such, then I think this is a fact. However, if you want to argue the point, that's certainly ok. I'm just gonna need to see the receipts -- show your work as I have done, please -- and we will let the marketplace of ideas sort it all out. To return to one of JCAM's charges, if all of this is a "pompous take," well, I plead guilty. That's an inherent risk in the practice of music criticism. But, believe me, I do not look down my nose at anyone who finds the sound quality of the Tiberi set a barrier to enjoyment. Thanks to all for the dialogue.

I am profoundly disappointed that Verve is going this route on the complete tapes -- $500 is a LOT of money for digital files. That price point ensures that only well-heeled collectors will be able to afford to buy this music and that most of the folks who would most appreciate and truly benefit from hearing this music -- musicians, students, obsessive fans, academics -- will not be able to hear all 26 hours. Perhaps there are mitigating circumstances why the company went this route: financial and market realities, etc. rather than simply corporate greed. And maybe there is a plan in place to make them available down the line to a wider audience at a reduced price, perhaps without the extra features such as Lewis Porter's track-by-track analysis of all 26 hours, which, by the way, should be great. His contributions to the forthcoming 4 LPs/3 CDs are extremely helpful in sorting out certain historical, musical, and contextual details. So I hold out some hope that there is a release strategy under discussion that would allow all of this music to reach a wider audience, while also allowing the the company to profit fairly, even handsomely, given the significant investment, going back literally 25 years, it took to get this material to the market in any form. What's drove the decision to go the $500 limited edition rout? Obviously, I don't know. But if I had to guess, I would spectulate that the financial return on the forthcoming set will be close to the margins; witness the skepticism many have expressed on this forum about buying it because of the sonics. There may have been a feeling that selling fewer complete sets (750) at $500 for a total of $375,000 net income was a more likely and faster route to profitability than selling 1,500 units at $250 or 1,875 units at $200, etc. Again, I'm just speculating off the top here.

To be clear: I don't think that rejecting the set for sonic reasons is prima facie evidence of downplaying the musical significance or of cowardice; I am only cautioning against the impulse to do so because I have seen some folks across the Interwebs fail to distinguish between the sound and the substance.

I agree. I would only add that no one who skips the new release for sonic reasons should assume or downplay the truly remarkable quality and uniqueness of the music therein.

Well, look: Everyone will have their own definition of what is acceptable sound to their own ears and whether the tradeoff for the musical content is worthwhile. That's fine. But as someone who has been listening to bootleg tapes for 40-plus years of everybody and everything, from Ellington, Bird, Bud, Horace, Sonny, and Miles to a dizzing array of contemporary folks, I find that, sonically, The Tiberi Tapes are perfectly acceptable by bootleg standards to my ears. More importantly to me, the CONTENT is beyond compelling -- off-the-charts great and absolutely tells us new stuff, musically and contextually, than what is othewise available. The "Good Bait" from 1963 is simply one of the most powerful things I have ever heard. There is nothing else like it in the Coltrane canon that's ever been released publically. Period. The more moderately tempo version of "Giant Steps" is also revelatory in terms of the melodic lyricism of Trane's solo, not to mention McCoy's extraordinary playing at 22. The 32-minute recording of "Resolution" from 1964, two months before the studio version of "A Love Supreme," is an extraordinary first draft of history. Two Coltrane originals appear here that have NEVER been heard before in ANY recording (commercial or bootleg) -- "Thing in D-Flat" is particularly important for how it bridges "Giant Steps" harmony with modality in a one tune. Several other pieces make their first appearances in Coltrane's live discography My long, positive review for Tablet Magazine that I posted in another thread on the forum last week has now slipped behind the paywall. I'm sorry I cannot share it all here but I include a caveat about the sound, noting: "The Tiberi Tapes will speak louder to connoisseurs than casual fans or newcomers. Despite impressive audio restoration by Impulse engineers that yields reasonable fidelity by bootleg standards, audience noise, distortion, and imbalances – drums are often in your face; bass is often inaudible – will trouble those unable or unwilling to excuse these issues for the exceptional music." I also say: "In an era in which consumers are bombarded by Barnumesque industry claims of lost masterpieces, unearthed rarities, and supernatural live recordings, I am thrilled to report that for once such hype is justified. When I finally heard Tiberi’s tapes, the first words that leapt to mind were 'revelatory,' 'electrifying,' and 'holy shit!'" As always, your mileage may vary.

Hey gang -- I wrote 2,000 magazine words about Coltrane's “The Tiberi Tapes” for Tablet Magazine. Here are 50 of them to whet your appetite: “In an era in which consumers are bombarded by Barnumesque industry claims of lost masterpieces, unearthed rarities, and supernatural live recordings, I am thrilled to report that for once such hype is justified. When I finally heard Tiberi’s tapes, the first words that leapt to mind were “revelatory,” “electrifying,” and “holy shit!” https://www.tabletmag.com/sections/arts-letters/articles/coltranes-shadow-tiberi-tapes

I have a strong memory of one Gong Show act that was just a horrible trumpet player, and though I can no longer remember exactly what he played, Morgan was the one who gonged him. When Chuck Barris asked her why, her deadpan response was to just a list of the names of jazz greats: Miles Davis, Chet Baker, Dizzy Gillespie, etc. R.I.P.

Sonny Rollins is clearly comfortable talking with Gil Noble. He also plays a bit too, including a chorus+ of "My One and Only Love" starting at about the 27:20 mark -- the bridge/last A/coda are particularly potent. https://lewisporter.substack.com/p/sonny-rollins-a-long-interview-on