Steve Reynolds

I am seeign if DMG will be getting it - if not I will order it direct next week from jazz messengers then hopefully we get a new recording of the whole orchestra soon

YET?!?! now I have to order that post fucking haste

fwiw, I saw Potter with Dave Holland's band ~ 1999 main stage at the knit, and along with Billy Kilson, he was the highlight of the performance that night. And it was a GREAT performance by Holland's great band (that included Steve Nelson and Robin Eubanks) I liked a few of the Potter dates I've bought - there is fine quartet recording on criss cross under Scott Colley's leadership called Subliminal, his own Sundiata on criss cross (early 90's, I think he was under 25 at the time and he sounds very good) is a good recording and Billy Drummond's Dubai 9also on criss cross - really pushing to the edge what criss cross records) is pretty damn great - but NOTHING like my memories of the late 20's something kid ripping it in Holland's band. of course the ECM production destroyed that band on record - I remember buying Prime Directive waiting to hear Billy Kilson sound like he did live and of course, Manfred destroyed the sound of the band as is usually the case. so I doubt I buy the new Taborn trio ECM or the new Potter ECM I'm too upset after hearing the newest Formanek take the bite and snap out of Cleaver's sound and especially almost completely lose Michael's great bass sound. let alone what he does to Taborn's piano enough of my tangent.... but I will buy the new Binney disc on criss cross as it has a good band in Taborn, Opsvik and Sorey maybe criss cross is actually gonna put out some recordings that have a few surprises...

btw - I believe both Malaby and Alexander attended William Paterson's jazz/music program. Malaby specifically went there to shore up his traditional bop/post bop/changes skills so he was capable to do what guys like Potter, Bergonzi, Alexander, etc. focus on - some of whom focus totally on music with very stringent limitations. Not that being able to play all sorts of traditional settings is any sort of requirement to be a great saxophonists (see Mats Gustaffson/Peter Brotzmann, etc.) BUT when you do have a musician like Malaby or Eskelin who are well versed in all music jazz, the possibilities for surprising, exciting new music is certainly increased. I've gotta did up an old fun Drew Gress disc I have that I believe features Binney called Jagged Sky which I remember being very good - I think it's a soul note disc from the late 90's. sorry for those who might liek their new recordings regurgitated but somehow for me, I think I would shoot myself in the temple before I listen to a recent recording called Cookin' unless Miles was reincarnated - even the titles are throughly unoriginal and uninspiring. and a series of balld recordings labeled 1, 2, 3 - egads - I know the dude plays a serious tenor saxophone - I had a few of his criss cross dates from the early/mid 90's - but volumes of CD's of him playing ballads?? your own mileage may vary, of course but give me at least a SHOT at the sound of surprise

thanks for the comments - I check every week or so to see who Evan will have playing with him when he is here in NYC in September....but not yet updated but if it is anything like the longer residency he had for his 65th birthday celebration in 2009, it will be mostly some of the best NYC area improvisors.... very much looking to seeing him again live and great to hear, as expected, that his playing is in fine shape.

And this October a current classic band gets a rare week as still these sorts of dudes are not yet welcome at the 'classic' venues. Will be nice to see how the week goes: In Order to Survive William Parker, Rob Brown, Lewis Barnes, Cooper-Moore, Hamid Drake I imagine it will be recorded and hopefully released as a box one day Methinks long after we are gone, someone other than me will post on a thread one day imagine being able to see those dudes live from 10 feet away Fwiw I urge anyone close to take one night to hear Hamid Drake in that room.

Love many of the above. Brotzmann Tentet @ Tonic 2000 I was there and I still have never heard anything quite like it. Number two might be: Fred Anderson Kidd Jordan William Parker Hamid Drake @ Vision Fest maybe 1999 Some of the jaded NYC crowd dancing in the ailes March 31st 2011 ICP Le Poisson Rouge unthinkably great. Wolter Wierbos best trombone performance I've ever heard Joe Maneri Quartet 1998 with Cecil McBee, Mat Maneri and Randy Peterson 10:00 set @ Tonic. Joel's best line to Mat when I introduced myself: This guy buys our records! Best line before the show when he saw the place was packed for his first real NYC show @ 72 years old: 'it's amazing to be here' Best line during: 'Duke Ellington called and asked me to play Sentimental Lady' Andrew Hill Sextet 1997 the comeback show at the knit with billy Drummond Marty Ehrlich Scott Colley Ron Horton and an unknown tenor player Fucking awesome. Drummond and Ehrlich destroyed the world Crispell Guy Hemingway @ Tonic maybe 2000 Best bass performance I've ever heard 8 Bold Souls 1999 hot house enuff said Von Freeman in a quartet with John Young circa 1997 in Chicago First long solo blew me away like no other tenor solo I ever heard live Eskelin Parkins Black maybe 1998 or so2 set tonic better than any of the records. When they played India the roof shook All rank with greatest shows I've ever heard on record Now one wishes a few of the above get released The last I will mention almost did as 2 other shows are on Trigonomtry from march 24 & 31 2001 I was at march 27 th @' tonic lots of Don Cherry stuff Drakes best live performance that I've witnessed And the 2 CD set does it justice almost as great as the seminal Wels Chicago sets And my point is that many of the above are classic bands giving classic performances and I've been blessed to witness them.

Enjoy Evan Parker. Would love to read a report on the band/performance, etc

not a big fan of Mehldau and I'm an admirer of Evans but over the years, I have pursued other areas of listening interests inside and outside of jazz. HOWEVER, it must be a real bitch being a current performing jazz musician and always being compared the the grand masters of the past. I mean - look at the listening paterns of many - they don't even address the music released the past 30 years unless it is from an old dude or a revivalist label.... the classic case is the comparisons that all post-Coltrane tenor players have to deal with up to this day. then we get pianists being compared to Evans/Hancock/Tyner and even Sonny Clark or Red Garland, etc. with drummers it is Max/Elvin and maybe even Ed Blackwell and ON and ON and ON The idea that Evan is untouchable base don the exmaples of his music reminds me of Branford'as comments comparing Evan Parker's music to Coltrane - "it doesn't have the drive, it doesn't do this, etc." If we take ourselves and the mythology out of the equation, it might be possible to think or imagine that in some cases (or many?!?!) that some of the current musicians might be on the same level or beyond the grand masters of the past. So I understand Mehldau's gripe - who wouldn't be aggravated? I mean Fred Anderson on good night was on the level of the guys the same age as him who are considered legends - he just happened not to be known wider until he was in his late 60's or 70's. And Oscar Noriega or Tony Malaby or Michael Attias or Marty Ehrlich or Thomas Chapin (RIP) or Evan Parker or Toby Delius or Paul Dunmall or Rob Brown or Chris Potter or Darius Jones or Michael Moore from the next or next generation from the legends can all play with ANY of them - and on good nights or good days in the studio - the results are there for anyone with a BIT of an open mind to see, hear and feel. we can still and do embrace the well known legendary music created in the vast world of jazz, but when it is instituted and claimed and untouchable, a myth is born. even though Mal Waldron thoughout the last 25-30 years of his life made extraordinary music, that music was marginalized as he played with THAT band in 1961 (Dolphy, Little, Davis, Balckwell) and he was Billie's last pianist - that's the known history by the standard record keepers wheo themselves seemed to die in 1965.....well sometimes the body is buried many years later - Ben Franklin said that fwiw but that pales in reality to Transylvanian Dance - as *that* piano genius from maybe 1996 is truly untouchable and yet because it isn't of the golden era, it is hardly even known to exist, even though the man at the piano chair was, in fact, one of the legends who maybe just lived a little too long for the historiacl cogenecenti. blood and guts, baby

please don't take my comments about Anti-House to heart - I will try the recording and maybe I will get some enjoyment from it and will hear some subtleties I missed when seeing the band live. But PLEASE understand that after hearing Rainey-Halvorson-Laubrock at The Stone - and ADDING Kris Davis and a bassist, that I had very high expectations - expectations that I always try to keep under control. the reason for them is that the above trio was INCREDIBLE and Rainey was as great as I've ever seen him - and a few of the other times I've seen him, there were times/moments where he plays beyond any drummer alive - and at the Anti House show, it could have been anyone at the drum kit. THAT is disappointing. Another example if that I saw Open Loose with Nasheet in place of Rainey - and it was a let down - and Waits is great, but with that trio, Rainey takes the music to levels unknown to really any other sax-bass-drum trio in existance. So imagine being pissed off when Nasheet Waits is the fill-in?? so I am spoiled, not yet again jaded as I once was, but I still have a critical ear.

maybe you missed it from the Live Performances thread but the Tony Malaby Reading band covered 'Frankenstein' last Saturday night. Billy Drummond brought the music sheet and the band ripped into it with Billy playing the Tony Williams role with Billy's vibe. Alessi great in the trumpet role and Malaby channeled Jackie Mac on his tenor with a more avant-garde out sensibility never missing a beat with the start/stop nature of the composition. pretty damn brilliant to my ears.

As far as Ingrid, I love it when she roars. for me the most dissapointing set of Vision Fest was Anti-House That band never let loose. NEVER! astounding that they never let it rip with that band. MARY never cranked it up. Ingrid who when she wants to can approach the ferocity of Paul FUCKING Dunmall yet she was self-contained the whole hour playing nice soft melodic lines - nice melodies and all, but how 'bout some dynamics??? How about some JAZZ??? abd TOM RAINEY never did what he does better than anyone on the planet - crank the volume and blow the roof off the place. But the trio without Kris and the bassist is a whole different deal as they don't rely on overly intricate thematic material, they destroyed The Stone with everything I expected and MUCH MUCH MORE! Not taking advantage of Tom Rainey in that band in front of nice crowd was a damn shame. Maybe he likes just playing along sometimes when at his most fierce, he is one the top drummers now or ever. That is why I cannot imagine that Nasheet Waits is just going along for a little ride, but I could be wrong. Don't get me wrong, I think Kris' music is very interesting and I will buy the new CD at the show, but I just sometimes think that if it more often went from the mind to the heart and to the soul and more embraced the groove, the result might be a bit stronger.

relyles - well when she played with Mat Maneri's Quintet last April, she played the whole range - and there were more than a few very intense high energy passages. Not Cecil Taylor like, but closer than I ever imagined. and parts of the Novela band performances(which she arranges and plays in) is pretty damn explosive. yes - when I saw her band with Laubrock, Maneri, Gress and Rainey (I think the band on Capricorn Climber) there were only fleeting moments of external energy, but one has to think with Nasheet at the kit, there will be more outward fireworks than one might expect. In any event, she is a great pianist and I'm looking forward to hearing the band live from 5 - 7 feet from Mat's chair. Plus the band does have Mat Maneri in it.............

saw the word Uber in another thread (thanks King Ubu) but this is a real Uber band and not being facetious - I imagien there will be no pomp and circumstance and sertainly no grandstanding, but there well be some fucking magic and I *know* there will be some explosiveness as well. and I also know it might contain quite a bit of what many of us are loking for, the sound of surprise. (fwiw - Tony Malaby was hoping to be in the band as well but he heard to France a day or two before the show - as I asked him between sets last Saturday when he would be playing with Mat Maneri) Saturday, Mar 30 - 9:00PM & 10:30PM KRIS DAVIS Kris Davis, piano; Mat Maneri, viola; Drew Gress, bass; Nasheet Waits, drums

Shim had a couple of dates at The Jazz Gallery last year with some good bands. Another guy I need to see live. He is great as a very young man on a Hamiet Bluiett maple shade recording from the early 90's.

Maybe these guys are a few years older Tony Malaby for one Ellery Eskelin for two Not a huge Potter fan but he at least has dealt with post 1959 music Saw the name Jason Rigby from Larry. Will be checking him out live this year hopefully soon. From younger guys John Irabagon Also Ingrid Laubrock And for the only bop guys, take a listen before you well know....

like much of the Lacy discography but I've NEVER been able to aquire a taste for irene.... my personal favorite has always been Morning Joy on hatART with the bext Steve Potts known on record. Windows (soul note), Cliches (hat) (ithink that is name of the one with George Lewis with the band) and NYC Capers (hat) are all also terrific - none with too much if any singing.... We See (hat) is a fine recording of Monk tunes with a sextet.

A few more thoughts: As some know Tony might be my favorite or second favorite saxophonist alive(along with Evan Parker) but he might also be inconsistent, maddening and mystifying. But he has his own sound, can play anything in any context and never settles for anything other than risk taking adventure no matter what the context. There were moments last night when I KNEW I was listening to the greatest tenor player alive and there were also times I was thinking WTF is he doing?? And it seems to happen every time I see him. His extended improvisation during the Bechet slow blues was at times exasperating and then just as I thought that he again is going down some insane path of no return, he transformed his solo/improv into something teetering on genius. The guy is the greatest high wire performer in all of jazz with practiced technique honestly untouched by most any other tenor players on the scene today. Maybe he is not the pure bop/post bopper that Chis Potter or Jerry Bergonzi, but as far as the sound of surprise and the idea of never knowing where he's gonna go or what the hell is gonna happen, he is unmatched in jazz today. And last thing, Billy Drummond is a grand master and the in and out nature of the Malaby Reading Band showed him to be that master. A few people here might have died and gone to heaven hearing Frankenstein last night. Pure joy with not a sound of nostalgia in it. Alessi and Malaby during the heads and the stop time rhythm throughout with a great, great drum solo playing the melody before the classic theme ended the night

Well from Tony Malaby channeling Coleman Hawkins to Billy Drummond reinventing Tony Williams as himself, a pretty great 2 sets. Drew Gress is a groove monster and Ralph Alessi is precise yet at times exhuberent. The second set ended with a Sidney Bechet piece followed by Grachan Moncur's Frankenstein. Btw all tunes played were selected by Tony right before each set and played without rehearsal. Tunes included a Motian piece, a Chris Lightcap tune, a great Malaby original that was post bop groove based madness that ended the 65 minute first set on an extraordinary high note and Blessed by Mat Maneri. The composition/performance was at times almost silent with the whole place as quiet as any club could be. Mat himself was in the audience and might be a harbinger of things to come for this music. The best composition of the night, IMO, and inspired some of the most precise, yet heartfelt improvising from the dual horns.

I love Cleaver live as well especially in more open bands. I'm not a huge Berne fan either and i have also never heard of Anker. Thanks for the comments! Hopefully I'll have a few regarding tomorrow nights show

Saturday Night @ my favorite place - Cornelia Street Cafe: Saturday, Mar 16 - 9:00PM & 10:30PM TONY MALABY'S READING BAND Tony Malaby, tenor sax; Ralph Alessi, trumpet; Drew Gress, bass; Billy Drummond, drums

any comments, relyles?

I always think AMM's Live in Allentown is the best entry point - maybe as it was the entry point for me into what I consider another aspect of improvised music. I had to learn to not listen for the individual musicians and once I adapted, a whole new soundworld opened up for me yesterdaye ended up playing disc 1 of: Keith Rowe / Sachiko M / Toshimaru Nakamura / Otomo Yoshihide - erstlive 005 a few of us used to call this amazing 3 CD set 'the inaccessable document'

trying, trying me - I'm still crazy for drums - my number one factor outside the leader of a band to decide if I go see the band live... despite the fact that I listen to quite a bit of Keith Rowe et al, eai, etc. but I veer towards the loder more expressive end of that spectrum as the real quiet stuff almost gives me a headache or reminds me that my hearing at 52 isn't what it was at 32.

next step might be Keith Rowe, et al