mjzee

I don't think it's horrible news. They don't want to tie up cash for a box that'll be sitting on their shelves for awhile, so they're sounding out their customers. If not enough people respond, they'll put their money into a new title. (I really liked the Beehive box, btw.)

Weird that people get so twisted out of shape because I said I don't like the 2nd quintet. Not my loss at all; I don't hear anything there to lose. I think here's a key sentence: Not true (just my point of view, but I'm discussing what I find appealing in music). You can play the tune, but then, if you play free, you're no longer playing the tune. You can come back to the tune after you play free, but document it as it happened. The Grateful Dead did that as follows: Playing In The Band>Jam>Not Fade Away>Playing In The Band. When they jam, it begins as a flow from the tune before, but they're not playing the tune anymore. If they jam within a tune, it's pretty apparent they're playing within the tune. When Miles transitioned to more riff-based music (Filles and after), it seems he considered the tune (composition) as a vehicle for improvisation to be problematic. Why get stuck with a tune, chord-structure and such, especially if you're just going to wind up ignoring it? Instead, just go with a riff and improvise over it all you want. There's your freedom, but it's also tonal and enjoyable - yes, it's got a good beat and you can dance to it. More power to him. But if you're going to improvise within a tune, I think it's important (for a performance that's coherent to the listener) to respect the chord structure and stay within the tune. Otherwise, you're just doing whatever the hell you want, and who's to say it's enjoyable and successful? In fact, why bother with the tune if you're just going to discard it? Just do whatever the hell you want and see if you get an audience. A really good example of this tension is on Albert Ayler's First Recordings (I heard it on GNP-Crescendo many years ago). As I recall, the band starts an innocuous standard ("I'll Remember April"), Ayler gets up and immediately starts farting all over the tune. He's not even pretending that what he's playing has a congruence with the tune. I hear it as a simple act of aggression - against the tune, against tonality, against melodicism, and maybe against bourgeois society. He's making the point he intends. I don't want to hear it again. But hey, enjoy the music you like. The 2nd quintet's music has been consistently in print since first released, with more seemingly added every few years ("Bootleg Series" and such). So there are lots of people who enjoy what you enjoy. I was just presenting my point of view, pointing out the qualities I don't like in the music.

Ah. Well, Stephen Hawking's dead, so I'll leave this to the ether.

I never liked the second quintet. Never. Consistently never*. Never saw the attraction. And I've tried: I have the studio box, the two "Bootleg Live" releases, and a one-disc compilation of the Plugged Nickel box. Unattractive melodies, rushed tempos, Tony's grandstanding cluttering up the beat (give me Billy Higgins any day!), and when it comes time to solo, Herbie's a gooey soft marshmallow who seems to be saying "what am I doing here?" I've been listening to a lot of the second quintet recently, courtesy of the shuffle functions on my iPod and iTunes. Just yesterday I heard Madness (from Nefertiti). A head that's barely a head, Miles noodles, Wayne cobbles together an interesting solo (an achievement, considering the dearth of melodic materials he has to work with), then Herbie comes in with...what? The beat stops, the tune goes out the window...Teo could've spliced this solo in from an entirely different song. Or how about Prince Of Darkness (from Sorcerer)? It's not that the band is tight, it's that the tune is constructed to accommodate when the beat disappears and Tony gets lost in his drums (like for about 10 seconds beginning around 45 seconds into the tune, and again around 1:50 into the tune), then Wayne gives a strong solo, and Herbie's solo is somewhere between playing scales and a bore. It's not basic physics, it's just personal taste, and this doesn't do it for me. (Ornette Coleman doesn't do it for me either, and all the spit takes in the world won't change that.) It's interesting that I start to like Miles again with Filles De Kilimanjaro, where he's moving on from the second quintet. *with two exceptions: Freedom Jazz Dance and Gingerbread Boy (both from Miles Smiles). But even there, I much prefer the Eddie Harris and Jimmy Heath versions.

I had to vote for Takin' Off, for Dexter and the great tunes. Herbie showed his gutbucket side, which he sadly discarded soon after. He has never been one of my favorites; to these ears, he often sounds too soft and tentative. I much prefer strong, propulsive pianists who push the groove. But never say never. I've been seriously contemplating the current Italian BN box, to give his oeuvre a relisten.

Yes, of course, good luck on the move! And enjoy Buffalo.

I'm intrigued by this reference: "There’s only one record extant of those recordings, and there’s a bunch of stuff buried somewhere — tied up in escrow somewhere — in Queens." I'm wondering what this refers to, and what other recordings may be in that "bunch of stuff."

Is that the same suit Lee's wearing on the covers of Cornbread, Delightfulee, and The Gigolo? Maybe The Rajah and Standards too.

Patty Waters interviewed here.

Interesting interview with Burton Greene here.

Apple 'will SCRAP its iTunes Store in March 2019 to focus on its Spotify-like subscription model' See: http://www.dailymail.co.uk/sciencetech/article-5606881/RIP-iTunes-Apple-END-music-downloads-March-2019.html

Wow. Thanks for posting that.

One more observation about Waters: it's clear she's not a "professional" jazz singer. She does her own thing, comes from her own place. One could call it a "naif" singing style - more someone singing in a shower than entertaining a crowd. The audience is witnessing a very private sort of performance, of someone who comes across as, and may indeed be, very fragile. I think this audience was very moved.

Just got back. Very, very good performance. The trio (Greene, Pavone, Altschul) were very strong. Vigorous, frequently dissonant, played with assurance and a deep empathy between them. They played some originals to start the concert, and also played some trio pieces in-between backing Waters. I really liked their take on Monk's Off Minor; certainly true to Monk but Greene, in particular, brought his own thing to it. I was very impressed with Burton Greene's playing. Patty Waters... It was interesting to hear her. Truly a case of time catching up to her: where what she did in the Sixties sounded strange and odd, now sounds more familiar because others have followed her path. She doesn't have the voice anymore to yelp and scream; it's now a small voice, breathy, quavering, a very personal sound. The trio toned down their playing while backing her, but still frequently overpowered her voice. It was obvious they loved and respected her, and loved playing behind her. Another interesting facet for me was her song selection. Here there was truly a time warp, as if we were transported back to the mid Sixties. She drew heavily from the Billie Holiday songbook, but exclusively songs where the singer is lonely, pining for her man, lost without him. Even songs that were not Holiday's seem to fit this mold, such as Ornette's "Lonely Woman." I can't imagine any female singer today presenting such a portrait of a woman who is nothing without the love of her man.

I do still plan to go. Barry Altschul! And Burton Greene...I used to have an obscure record by him titled Variations Of A Coffee Machine, on an obscure label named Kharma, run by a guy named Dan Serro.... check out what they released: Kharma Records.

Just announced: Dave's Picks 26: Albuquerque 11/17/71.

A reminder that this is tonight at 8 PM.

In depth and on point. Good reading.

96 In+Out albums - Ron Carter, James Blood Ulmer, Johnny Griffin, Buster Williams, Woody Shaw, Nat Adderley, Lester Bowie, Chico Freeman, and a lot more.

Hmmm... Turntable to TT preamp to Bose? Or TT to TT preamp to amp to Bose? I haven't used any of these little devices, but it might be fun to try: TT preamp: Nobosound Little Bear T7, $54.00 (you'd just need a Y-cable to connect from line out to Bose): Amp: SMSL B1, $59.95:

290 Enja albums here. And another 19 here.

I tried emailing the author through the newspaper's website, but couldn't send it.

Yeah, great album, unfortunate cover - they found a photo that makes her look like Moms Mabley with a hairnet.

107 TCB - The Montreux Jazz Label albums.

What's so bad about it?