Leeway

They all sound great Chuck. If you keep the audience applause from the Baltimore show, I'll have hopes of my applause getting on a Nessa CD

I had trouble placing Max when I first saw this thread, as he is not someone I have seen often. But I realized I was at a Frank Gratkowski concert at Spectrum, NYC, last August, where Max was the bassist. There's a clip on YT of that show. I'm sitting in the chair at the lower right corner of the frame, right before Chris Pitsiokis on sax; you can see my left arm. Max was good. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KjKwCJ3LuZw

BLACK BEAUTY: MILES DAVIS AT FILLMORE WEST - Columbia Japan 2LP

I hope you found it of interest. At least is indicates what was in Marion's mind at time of recording.

I am sure Muhal titled the date. The image contains (left to right) Muhal, Richarda and Peggy Abrams. Richarda is their daughter. Thanks Chuck for the information. The girl in the middle particularly had me stumped. I maybe should have asked this in the first place, but does the title 1-OQA+19 have any particular meaning? Seems there is some philosophical or spiritual meaning behind it, but I don't know what it signifies or refers to.

1-OQA+19 - Muhal Richard Abrams, Anthony Braxton, Leonard Jones, Henry Threadgill, Steve McCall. Black Saint LP. I wonder who named this album 1-OQA+19? It's Abram's album, but it sounds Braxtonian to me. Whoever gave it that title probably condemned it to relative obscurity; not a title that sticks in the mind or easily referenced. Maybe someone could help out here and identify the three individuals on the front cover? I have my notions but have never been certain.

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MACROSCOPE - The Nels Cline Singers - Mack Avenue (!)/Cryptogramophone LP. There is no logical argument to make for the LP over the CD, since the CD is cheaper, has several additional tracks that could not fit on the LP, plus the LP rearranges the tracks from the CD. OTOH, I like the LP track arrangement, the shorter length makes this more digestible, a download of the CD is included, Nels signed my LP and, it's vinyl! I've really kind of fallen in with Nels' aesthetic, and I enjoyed this. BTW, the title and band name are in that big white border around the cover image, but they are too faint to show up in the online images.

I'm really glad you mentioned his association with Threadgill; I did not manage to get that into my post. He was also associated with Max Roach and Muhal Richard Abrams. It reflects the high level that Taylor has performed at, and I'm sure association with artists like these must have been a learning experience as far as composition goes. But Taylor takes his own approach in his compositions, and does not resemble Threadgill. I think if they can get more time together as a group, and build the group identity, they can be a noteworthy group. There is already a lot of individual talent. Hope you get to see them.

Yvor Winters Donna Summers Bernard Fall

Gordie Howe Irving Howe Julia Ward Howe

Charlie Chan Coco Chanel Carol Channing

Thanks for the review Steve. Right on the money.

MIDNIGHT WALK - Elvin Jones - Atlantic LP. With Thad Jones, Hank Mobley, Dollar Brand, et al. Cool hearing Dollar Brand in this context.

Yes, don't know how I got Martin into my noodle. Thanks, I'll correct that.

I knew every member of Mark Taylor’s Secret Identity band, except Mark Taylor. With Darius Jones on alto, Jonathan Finlayson on trumpet, Ken Filiano on bass, and Michael T.A. Thompson on drums, I knew this was a first-rate group, one that I wanted to see. But Taylor was certainly a “secret identity” to me. What I learned from a bit of online research, and from attending the band’s concert at Bohemian Caverns in Washington DC, on May 11th, was that Taylor was a proficient French horn player who was stricken with a disease that affected the area around his moth, making it impossible to play French horn, at least for the present. Taylor said that he had always been interested in composing and arranging, but that this aspect of his musical life was not well-known, and thus constituted his “secret identity.” For the concert, Taylor played piano. Taylor said he had played piano as a child and resumed after the French horn was not an option. Taylor’s piano playing suited its purposes: to frame the compositions, guide the band, and signal transitions. May I call it composerly? I sat in for both sets, each about 60 uninterrupted minutes. From the sheet music on the piano it appeared that each set consisted of several compositions taken without breaks. What I liked about Taylor’s compositions was that, although nicely involving and with an avant sensibility, they did not smother the band under theoretical structures, and gave each musician room to play. Indeed, the compositions seemed to want to highlight each instrument, especially the front line. The soloists were able to move from composed to improvised and back in an integrated fashion. Thompson is a precise, emphatic drummer who provided a lot of energy. Filiano is one of the best bassists around; usually if he is in a group, it will be good. Finlayson is somewhat on the Ralph Alessi end of the trumpeter spectrum, working interestingly with the sheer brassy nature of the instrument. Darius Jones has one of the most burnished sounds on alto, almost tenor-ish, but his playing is quick and strong and capable of moving from in to out in a flicker. He always gets a nice blues sensibility in his playing. This was only the second gig for this band, having played Cornelia Street Café in NYC the night before. Taylor wants to work with the band some more, then consider touring and recording.

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Joel Dorn Bruce Dern Duran Duran

Sandy Koufax Knute Rockne Melvin Van Peebles

OF MYTHIC WORLDS - Sun Ra- Philly Jazz LP (reissue).

Yeah, I need to get that. I'm going to see him next week, may be able to pick it up then. Thanks for the recommendation.

SHIFT - Mats Gustafsson (bari), Sebastian Bergstrom (p), Joacim Nyberg (b), Emil Astrand-Melin (d). NoBusiness LP.

If you really want to swim against the tide, try Molly Keane or better yet Barbara Comyns. The latter has one of the most unique literary voices I've ever come across. I wouldn't want to befriend any of her feckless characters, but the writing is generally quite compelling, and as I think I mentioned before both Keane and Comyns get to the point. Very few of their novels crack the 250 page mark. That said, I like Barbara Pym quite a bit, when I am in the right mood. I read all her novels in my 20s and recently picked up a box set of them to give them another go, ideally starting next year. I do, perversely, like An Academic Question the best, which most aficionados consider her worst! I am nearly done with Proust's The Fugitive, then will read Elizabeth Jane Howard's Falling, then Keane's Treasure Hunt and finally Comyns' The House of Dolls (I believe this is her final novel). Didn't see BillF's comment when it was first posted, so I'll respond to that first. I haven't read any Pym, but my wife has read quite a bit of her and has plenty of titles on her bookshelf, so I should be able to dip into her work. Bayley and A.N Wilson were big fans of Pym. Wilson tells some amusing tales about Pym, and Pym-Iris-Bayley. RE: the linked article, I'm not surprised that Iris' stock has fallen. Bayley's books have done her reputation a lot of harm by turning her image from a serious writer into a crazy old lady in a diaper. Plus she probably wrote too much, but there is a core of work that I think will stay the course. EJP626, I've not come across Keane or Comyns, really new to me, so I will have to take note of them. Feckless characters sound good to me. Iris has quite a bunch in her work as well. I think what sets Iris apart is the philosophical dimension in her work; for better or worse, sometimes more or less successfully, Iris strives to work serious philosophical concepts or issues into her work. A Platonic novelist ,or maybe sometimes just Plato-Lite. Her formula: plenty of sex and higher thoughts. Maybe based on her own life. Seemed to work in life and art. Scottish, not Irish, but I like Muriel Spark quite a bit too. Just wanted to get a mention in of her.