Leeway

"mostly don't care to own (storage of slowly rotting wood-pulp issue...)." Oh man, I LOVE rotting wood pulp reading units i.e., books! Checking out bookstores has been a lifelong habit, and my book storage situation is even more dire than my record and CD storage. I particularly like used and rare stores, but any bookshop in a pinch will do. I still much prefer reading a hard copy book than reading on a Kindle or similar device. I can see the value of a Kindle if one were on a long trip and needed to pack a bunch of titles compactly. But a couple of paperback Dickens would also fit the bill for me in such a situation. And you know, books do furnish a room, Kindles not so much, Back to music: if one is looking for free, avant, experimental and that sort of thing, I don't see any way but to shop at Internet places like Squidco or DMG. Do streaming services provide extensive coverage of this type of music? From what I have seen (mostly Rhapsody, haven't checked Spotify), it seems very hit or miss and not that extensive. If that situation changed, I might be more inclined to use a streaming service. What I don't need is a streaming service AND CDs and LPs. Just another cost center as they like to say in the corporate world.

That was quite a group, including Hugh Hopper, Elton Dean, Andrew Cyrille, and Roswell Rudd. I think I've read that the group was not very happy with Ms. Bley. Listening to the record, it sounds as if she exerted a lot of control over the playing. If it's true the musicians weren't happy, perhaps that's why. Yes, I believe that was the cause of the friction.

I still prefer the physical object, i.e. LPs and CDs. I get those from the few used stores in my area, or directly from the artist at shows, or online purchases. Stores selling new music and books have virtually disappeared here, so that is no longer a viable option. At some point, I may have to move to a streaming service, for various reasons. Downloads just don't appeal to me.

I picked up the hard copy (imagine that) of the NYRB today and came across the Schatz review of Crouch's Parker book. It's one of those typical NYRB reviews that make you wonder if you need to read the book. Schatz concluded by calling the book "an enchanting biography," which rather surprised me, as the review itself did not seem that laudatory. It pointed out some of Crouch's usual memes, for example, varieties of skin tone, Negro for black or African-American, Albert Murray's importance, "Negro vernacular music" (as opposed to that avant stuff), etc. In other words, Crouch being Crouch. Looks like the biography to make Charlie Parker safe for Wynton Marsalis and the LCJO. I know, I'm inferring a lot from a review, but I don't think I'll be far off.

That was quite a group, including Hugh Hopper, Elton Dean, Andrew Cyrille, and Roswell Rudd. I think I've read that the group was not very happy with Ms. Bley.

I recall that "back in the day" ( ) good headphones might go for $100, and really good headphones might go $200 or $300. Now I'm seeing headphones at audio shows routinely cresting the $1,000 mark. I'm not much of a headphone guy (except for limited uses), so maybe that is what they are going for, but it seems to me that thousand dollar headphones are jumping the shark, in the same way that selling vinyl next to the kale is, or even more so.

Hickory Dickory Doc

Uncommon trumpet-bass-drums trio with Ted Curson, Ray Drummond, and Roy Haynes. Interplay LP 1979.

@erwbol: Enjoy the Joe Henderson albums, they are really fine. and

and:

I picked up this album very recently, "MR. BILLY HIGGINS," on Riza Records. With Tony Dumas (b), William Henderson (p), Gary Bias (woodwinds). First time I'd seen this album. Good not great has been my initial take.

Finally had a chance to listen to all 3 CDs seriatim. I like the way they are sequence: early, middle, late. One of Feldman's attractions for me is how he like to occupy that space between the subliminal and the sublime. Anyway, wonderfully performed:

I guess I do too, as I quite like Kempff in the German piano repertory.

Joe McPhee Po Music: Topology. 2LPs Hat Art. Also Don Cherry, Relativity Suite (reissue):

I've heard Evans live a fair number of times plus have a bunch of albums with him as leader or sideman but I have to say I've not heard any strains of Marsalis there, and believe me, I'm hypersensitive to that . I'll keep an ear cocked. Count me among those who fail to find much of interest in MOPDTK. While we're at it, Jon Irabagon doesn't do much for me either.

Two good recent releases I enjoyed:

Let's call it a non-privileged, multivalent conversation.

A nightcap:

I posted this over in the Vinyl Thread; did not see this thread. Anyway, Raux is on this album and does a really good job, along with Bobby Few Alan Silva, Pablo Sauvage and Sunny Murray:

Saw Peter Evans at Evan Parker's residency at The Stone in NYC in September, in the Rocket Science group (which also played as part of Evans; residency the week before). The first set has to be among the top 2 or 3 sets of free jazz I have seen. Tremendously exciting. Evans was doing things with the trumpet that I did not think probable or maybe even permissible. He was throwing everything at Evan Parker imaginable, and the beauty of the set was that Evan handled it all and came back with an elevated game of his own. Maybe because I was sitting about 3 feet from Peter Evans the visceral impact was even stronger. Peter Evans can make that sort of moment happen. Staggeringly good, jaw-dropping technique. But I do believe that his approach to the trumpet is defined by a manic, anarchic, harlequin quality. In contrast, Nate Wooley, who also has major chops, often takes a personal, even philosophical approach in much of his playing. Very roughly, they strike me as sort of the Dizzy/Miles couple of this generation. As for Adorno, Greenberg, et al, I'll need to go bakc to check them out, but it does seem to me that the music we are talking about is post-modern and derives much of its inspiration from post-modern-classicism. OTOH, I often feel that musician are always out in front of any definition you'd care care to throw over them.

Jimmy Lyons (as), Raphe Malik (tp), Karen Borca (bassoon), William Parker (b), Paul Murphy (d). Black Saint LP. I appreciate this album more each time I listen to it. Malik is on fire, and Borca is amazing amidst the maelstrom. Borca's free jazz bassoon playing is being carried forward today by another amazing bassoonist, Katherine Young.

@ Cactus Bob, I dig the Altec! Listened to this after a long while and dug the cool groove.

I kept my order short this year. Decided i would give the Ganelin Trio a try (yeah, I'm way behind the curve on them). I'm a Leimgruber (and Leandre) fan so that pick was easy. The Braxton looked interesting. Thought I'd pick up some more Tchicai since his passing. There were a couple of more I might have added but the order has to be in multiples of six (6, 12, 18, etc) and I couldn't stretch that far at the moment. CD LR 101 Ganelin Trio; Poco-a Poco; GY 13 The Ganelin Trio; Strictly for Our Friends; CD LR 375 The Ganelin Trio; 15-year Reunion; Live at the Frankfurt Book Fare; CD LR 337 Lauren Newton / Joelle Leandre / Urs Leimgruber; Out of Sound; CD LR 416 Braxton / Szabadoz / Tarasov; Triotone; GY 4 Hartmut Geerken / John Tchicai / Famoudou Don Moye; Cassava Balls;