Leeway

NAANCORE - Dave Rempis (as), Lasse Marhaug (electronics). Aerophonic LP. I like Marhaug's electronics because he is so aggressive, so over the top, and so willing to celebrate noise; there is no inhibition about it. But the real story of this record is Dave Rempis' phenomenal blowing throughout two 20-minute, continuous sides. Rempis sometimes seems like a man blowing a saxophone in the middle of a hurricane, and all the happier for that. Variety, power, and energy mark his playing here. Never heard Rempis at quite this level in KV5

Cole has several recordings on Boxholder Records that are good. You might try, "Proverbs for Sam," which is a reference to former alto saxophonist in the Ensemble, Sam Furnace. Cole commented that he still misses Furnace, and the CD is a sort of testimonial to him (he plays on the CD). This album also has what is likely Cole's best ensemble: Cole, Furnace, Daley, William Parker, Warren Smith, Cooper Moore, and Atticus Cole. I wanted to mention that Cole got started in the performance of non-Western instruments at the prompting of Clifford Thornton.

The King and I Me and Bobby McGee We Three Kings

Webster’s New World Twentieth-Century Dictionary of the English language, Second Edition (1968) (a great dictionary, now considerably out-of-date, but I wouldn’t willingly part with it) defines “tempered” in music as, “adjusted to a temperament, especially equal temperament.” “Temperament” is described as “a system of adjustment of the intervals between the tones of an instrument of fixed intonation.” “Un” is “not, lack of, opposite of.” Bill Cole’s Untempered Ensemble performed two sets at Bohemian Caverns on Sunday night, May 18, 2014. I had first seen the Untempered Ensemble maybe four or five years ago in New York City, and it made a strong initial impression. I caught another one or two appearances, but had not seen the Ensemble recently. The personnel of the Ensemble seems to be forever shifting. The edition that appeared at Bohemian Caverns consisted of Lisette Santiago (percussion); Gerald Veasley (electric bass); Ras Moshe (flute and tenor sax); Joe Daley (tuba and euphonium); and Bill Cole on a variety of indigenous or non-Western instruments, including the didgeridoo, India shenai, nagaswarm, Korean piri, hojok, Chinese sona, and Ghanan wooden flute. The inclusion of Veasley gobsmacked me, as it seemed far from his usual musical endeavors. The Ensemble is not known for funkified goings-on. On the other hand, I noticed on the CD table that Veasley has a CD out, “The Electric Mingus Project.” Who knew? Like a good doctor, Veasley did no harm, and neither did Moshe, whom I’ve seen a number of times, or Santiago, entirely new to me. They provided dutiful support, with occasional flashes of color. The real object of my interest was Joe Daley, who, among other things, played with Sam Rivers on the three Tuba Trio records released on Circle Records, and “Black Africa!,” on Horo. I think that for Sam Rivers to name a trio The Tuba Trio demonstrated a high regard for his then twenty-something tuba player, Joe Daley. Thirty years on, Daley’s playing has only become more remarkable. I could have listened to him solo for the set, not something I usually say about tuba players. Interesting that in one weekend I saw tuba/euphonium players in groups as different as Swedish Azz and Untempered Ensemble. Ingrid Laubrock also has a tuba in her quintet. Is the tuba making a comeback? Daley told me after the show that the key thing about working with Sam Rivers was that Rivers was always pushing for new ways to play something, new ideas, new approaches. The one obvious thing about Bill Cole is his passionate attachment to, and involvement with, his indigenous instruments. That passion conveys itself to the listener and encourages greater receptivity. It is a bit of adjustment to “get” these “untempered” instruments, some as loud and raw as a town crier, others as subtle and deep as a mystical ritual. The set opened with a ten-minute solo by Cole on the didgeridoo, an instrument requiring cyclical breathing. By the end of the solo, one felt the sound waves from the instrument vibrating through one’s head. This was followed by the hojok, a Korean instrument that Cole described as “in your face” in its rawness and brashness. So it went over the two sets, with Cole having composed most of the pieces for particular instruments. Daley also presented a piece dedicated to Cole that was excellent. In general, the music was essentially indigenous instruments presented in a part-composed, part-free jazz environment The valuable thing about Bill Cole and the Untempered Ensemble is that it pushes us outside the Western tradition and its modalities (tempered) and makes us hear things anew again. It connects us with music that goes back many centuries or even beyond, with raw and often wild sounds (untempered). Cole reminds us that there are different kinds of music and different kinds of hearing, vital to the spirit. As Thoreau stated, “Wildness is the preservation of the world.”

Thank you Van Basten II. Much appreciated. Steve, I considered going to that Queens show, which I think was a Noise Festival of sorts, but it was literally a bridge too far. Oh yeah, Tarfala-- one can only hope! I remembered that the first time I saw The Thing was in Philadelphia, now some years ago, at a place called Karate Necktie, a small bar with a small stage. Standing room only, packed, The Thing just slamming, loud, and then Joe McPhee got on stage, and things got even hotter. Incredible show.

Thanks for the nice comments folks. I kind of wrote this in my head as I was driving up and back; five hours give you time to do that. MJAZZG, follow my rule (you can always blame it on me later ), when Mats in town, go see him. He really is terrific live in probably any ensemble; the recordings can be a bit variable. I'd love to see the Fire! group. I wanted to note that Philadelphia has been presenting an incredible array of music this year, only a small part of which I've been able to get to. Most of it has been coordinated through Ars Nova Workshop. Worth checking out.

Thing Thin Man Q

I have a love-hate relationship with Mats Gustafsson. I love all the things he does with The Thing, with Brotzmann, Vandermark, and Paal-Nilssen Love. You know, the wild, hard-blowing, ear drum eviscerating, punk-free jazzer thing. Yeah, I love that stuff. Then there is the other side of Mats, consisting typically of the, let me call it, electronic noodling projects. I feel about these as I feel about George Lewis: when he picks up a trombone he is golden, when he picks up a laptop, he is not much different than some kid in the music program at Bard. “Hate” is too strong a word though. “Meh!” might be closer to the feeling. And I feel bad about that. I like artists who challenge themselves, challenge their listeners, and as a listener, I like to be challenged. But often enough Mats has left me nonplussed, befuddled, and dismayed (and out $15 or $20). There is one rule though about Mats that I have: when he is in town (even when it is not my town), I go see him. Mats is one of the more charismatic musicians on the scene. So it was that I launched myself into the riptides of I-95 (if you are not familiar with the I-95 corridor, DC to NYC, consider yourself fortunate) to see the Swedish Azz concert at the American Swedish Historical Museum in Philadelphia, Saturday night. From comments that Mats made, this was the inaugural concert of the group in the United States. Looking at the group calendar at this time, it might be the only one for some time, so it was not to miss. The performance space at the Museum turned out to be the entryway of the building, with the audience seated on a carpeted grand staircase leading up to the galleries, with other audience members seated in the galleries or on the sides of the staircase. Odd, but fun. The huge vaulted ceiling added some ambience to the sound, especially to the sax and drums, not too much, just a slight richness. Swedish Azz consists of Mats on alto and baritone saxes; Kjell Nordeson, vibes; Per-Ake Holmlander, tuba; Erik Carlsson, drums; and, DIEB13, turntables. Nordeson and Holmlander are long-time friends of Mats. Mats, who apparently now lives in Austria, met DIEB13 there and liked his sound. Mats said that when he was putting the group together, he felt something was missing; that led to the inclusion of DIEB13, whom Mats called “The X Factor.” That turned out to be decidedly true. The purpose of Swedish Azz is to feature the compositions of Swedish jazz players and composers, from popular songs, “conventional” jazz , to bebop, to somewhat free arrangements. That seems a fairly conservative premise. It is clear that Mats is really invested in these composers and this music. But then you have the rather unusual lineup of vibes, tuba and electronics, you know this will not be a straightforward tribute. Using all the members of the group, these compositions are pulled in every way, like a kid with silly-putty, or stated then disrupted using all the members of the group. Most interesting, DIEB13’s turntables functioned to support the compositions, sometimes even tplaying old records that featured the music, to utterly destabilizing and deconstructing the music. Truly an X-Factor in the group. The electronic dimension also seemed to create a space in which the other musicians could play in and against the composition. Mats played pretty and he roared mightily, especially on the bari. He had a lovely little Conn alto that sounded wonderful. The group dynamic was quite wide, from soft ballad to hard free jazz. But the integrity of the composition was never quite lost. The concert proper lasted about 70 minutes, followed by sincere, sustained and enthusiastic applause, that led to a final 15 minute encore from the group. I think everyone, band and audience, felt this was a superlative concert. Like Vandermark, Mats tends to bring a small record shop with him when he performs, so I picked up some LPs and I’ll see how well the group translates in recordings. As I headed south, I thought that in this concert, Mats finally bridged the gap between “Love” and “Meh!” There’s a lesson there.

STEEL SLEET - Paul Flaherty (ts), Chris Corsano (d)- Tyyfus LP. Paul Flaherty and Jack Wright are two people in the music who immediately come to mind as entirely committed musicians and yet severely overlooked. If you can see either or both live, try to do so.

Hall & Oates Warren Oates Joyce Carol Oates

Back Door Man Hoochie Coochie Man Mad Men

IDENTICAL SUNSETS - Paul Dunmall (border pipes on #1, tenor sax), Chris Corano (drums ESP-Disk LP. Any Dunmall album that starts off with the border pipes puts me in a good mood. Plus 2 sides of Corsano and Dunmall roiling, boiling, and toiling their way forward.

Tomi Ungerer Kenneth Anger Inger Stevens

Prosper Merimee Prospero Spiro Agnew

I hope you found it of interest. At least is indicates what was in Marion's mind at time of recording. I did indeed. The Brown connection made perfect sense. It was a stimulating and in parts somewhat challenging read but time well spent. I can imagine I'll revisit it Wasn't Andrew Hill's "Dusk" based on "Cane" also? According to the liner notes to the CD, the title tune was inspired by "Cane." Nice catch Matthew. Need to give that disk a spin, it's been a while.

Nice description Justin, I think it describes them very well. Katherine Young is a terrific bassoonist. I've been encouraging people to check out her "Pretty Monsters" CD, if you like avant music. That quartet should be a killer set; would love to see them. BTW, which town Uli?

Happy Birthday Larry and thanks for your willingness to go beyond the surface of things in your writings.

THE LEE KONITZ NONET - Roulette LP So much being said about these Nonets on another thread, thought I ought to give this a spin. That's how we roll at Organissimo.

I was trying to find out if Belinda was related to Basil (apparently not), when I came across Belinda's previous book, which covers the period when she was writing the Walker Evans biography: http://www.nytimes.com/2006/02/23/garden/23guynd.html?pagewanted=all&_r=0 Sounds amusing; the Laird sounds a bit still enamored of his ex-wife. What did you think of the Evans book?

THE ALCHEMIST - Ernie Krivda - Inner City LP. Krivda (ts, ss, fl), Gil Goldstein (p), Eddie Gomez (b), Bobby Moses (d), Ray Mantilla (perc). Krivda, a lifelong Clevelander, is not an easy player to pin down, which of course is good. I do know that Krivda can burn when he needs to. I've read that his early works on Cadence are strong; haven't had a chance to sample them yet.

Spike Lee Otis Spann Mr. Clean

Orrin Keepnews Holden Caulfield Morley Safer

Looks like you get to sit in comfy armchairs - nice. Nothing as plush over here .....dangerous after a heavy day at work though zzzzzzz I wish they were all like that! Most places have horrid seating. The place in the clip, Spectrum, serves as someone's loft & living space, and also an occasional performance space. Besides the big leather chair (not typical of all the seats there) I was sitting right next to a bookcase with a lot of interesting books, so I was able to check them out during breaks. Best seats for a concert in the local area (aside from the big venues like Kennedy Center) are, I think, at An Die Musik, which has old Queen Anne wingback chairs for seating. Love those. And you know, I have found plenty of people nodding off during these shows. Soothing noise. I have been interested in Gratkowski, so when he came hre on a short tour, I went up to NYC to attend all of his appearances there (maybe 6). That's how I ended up at Spectrum. But I guess I have been gadding about a bit.

Welcome back Jeff!

I'll take 20 minutes of Malaby in peak form over 60 or 70 minutes of someone else xeroxing "Cherokee"" or the Blue Note Catalog. For me, and many others, this is music of the ecstatic moment. I don't care how it gets there, only that it arrives. I'm for all-in, not hedging my bets. I don't care about lose and draw. A musician from a recent gig I attended said it was "present tense music." Present at the delivery and reception. That's where I want to be during the performance. If you don't like my listener painting, paint your own.