Steve Reynolds

I loved the interview except maybe fascinated yet taken aback regarding the open discussion of other's drug usage/abuse, etc. I do *hear* some of the arrogance that fasstrack mentions and it seems he does a very high opinion of his own music - music which I have little familiarity with - although I did see him in a small venue perform Mingus music with a fine quintet (Berne, Bynum, Hebert and Ches Smith) and alas, the material selection (3 latish ballds like Duke Ellington's Sound of Love) seemed to mirror Hersch's playing - a bit safe, very correct and very well done. maybe too well done....certainly less exciting than I expected, maybe both him and the band. what I also do seem to hear is an interesting fascination that Fred had/has with the history of the music/piano/recordings - some of the same things that Tim Berne expressed in Ethan's fine interview with Mr. Berne. my wish is that more listeners and musicians had the same interest in the recordings of people like Berne, Hersch and the many others and what they have recorded over the past 20-30 years - it still seems that the *great* classics tower over everything else in mnay people's minds... too bad, I think still... Coming Down the Mountain

You beat the under - I thought it might take you to the end of the day to comment, Pete

fun to read the review except the silly comment: "Italy has yet to produce a more accomplished jazz musician than the trumpeter Enrico Rava" says who? Says Nate Chinen based on what? I am not saying they are greater but who is to say that Gianluigi Trovesi, Pino Minafra or Carlo Actis Dato are not more accomplished that Mr. Rava? methinks especially Trovesi and Minafra are two of the greatest jazz musicians/musicians/composers of their generation regardless of where they are from - and certainly a comment like this regarding Rava downplays all the Italian Jazz/folk music that has been made and is being made up through today. In fact to make a comment like that shows a certain amount of ignorance and buys into the idea of who is more well known must be more accomplished. Around Small Fairy Tales, baby

there are a couple of tracks with prime later Joe Henderson on these 2 terrific albums: Mal Waldron - Soul Eyes 1997 with appearances by Abbey Lincoln and Jeanne Lee but most importantly all with the great trio of Mal, Reggie Workman and Andrew Cyrille. One of the great Waldron recordings Bheki Mseleku - Timelessness - another wonderful recording I think from the early 90's - also with a strong feature from Pharoah Sanders

Larry - I will keep my ears open for any upcoming appearances by Jason Rigby. Although I had some of the same thoughts as you (although not expressed nearly so well) about Tony Malaby - especially after hearing him a couple of years back in a quartet I have come to hear his sound including all of the metallic screeching and sometimes what might seem to be as too much of what you refer to as a 'keening' tone as his sound in total and very organic and not foreced in that respect. this is what I wrote about the set back in Sept 2010: Tony Malaby, tenor saxophone; Ben Monder, guitar; Eivind Opsvik, bass; Nasheet Waits, drums 2nd set had it's moments - the best being the playing of Ben Monder - sometimes a bit too fusiony for me - but often he played many sparkling notes and the one fusion like solo was still impressive. Waits is fine yet loud and his bombast made me realize how great and accomplished Rainey is in comparison. The best portions of the 2 long pieces were the more abstract almost gauze like sections where Waits toned it down and Malaby's tenor despite many many harsh lines - sometimes I liked it sometimes I was wondering if he is a poor man's Paul Dunmall - but for sure he is surprising - playing with a great range on the horn. Some nice almost minimalist bow work by the bassist - and some of the portions when Malaby laid out were the strongest - very loud set and my ears just cleared up this morning...

is that the trio with William Parker and Nasheet Waits? I am DYING to see Malaby with Nasheet as I would imagine that it will be OUT of CONTROL!! plus as I mentioned to a co-worker a few minutes ago, I think I am obsessed with a certain saxophonist

@ Cornelia Street Cafe TONY MALABY TRIO Tony Malaby, tenor saxophone; Angelica Sanchez, piano; Tom Rainey, drums TONY MALABY'S NOVELA Tony Malaby, tenor saxophone; Ralph Alessi, trumpet; Michael Attias, alto saxophone; Ben Gerstein, trombone; Joachim Badenhorst, bass clarinet; Andrew Hadro, baritone sax; Dan Peck, tuba; Kris Davis, piano; Tom Rainey, drums as usual I (or we as this time I with my wife - which is now/lately mostly the case as) are first or second in line as I love being in the second or 3rd seat just a few feat from the band in this very intimate space - it is long thin space - maybe 10 to 12 feet wide with small tables and benches on the side and chairs in the middle with barely enough room for someone to walk in between. It is simply a GREAT place to hear this music as there is no needs for any amplification for any of the horns and in this case just microphones for the baby grand fro Angelica and then Kris. Malaby intitially looks like he wants the old selmer tenor but then he picks up his shiny soprano and they start playing - all through the set seems like they are Sanchez's tunes/sketches but it was never discussed A few minutes in the soprano saxophone makes sounds I have rarely heard and I think they actually stopped and started something else - 50 minutes later we had heard it all - the guy next to me who has heard jazz live - but was on a trip from North Carolina and went to this show on a recommendation of a serious jazz fanatic friend - he *also* heard what the rest of us heard - first off he *knew* he heard the greatest drummer he had ever seen - but that is a given when one hears Rainey when he wants to get even a bit aggressive and excited - and he did that a few times during the set. Pretty damn great despite a few passages when the trio find it's space and balance between the tunes and the improvising. Malaby was strong on tenor but played a few solos/passages on soprano that were surprising, new and breathtaking - harsh, ascerbic and biting - but still with his melodic sensibility. and I know I have done this a few times but... THEN.... Tony tells them he needs the space where the first 2 small tables and chairs are. This means that when the alto saxophone, bass clarinet and baritone saxophones are placed in the hands of the musicians playing them that I am staring into the bells of the baritone and bass clarinet - and the alto saxophone is right ot my left. This is after I move my seat BACK a couple of feet - now I am ready for a personal show - first tune is the grooviest one from the record and the ensemble passages are mindblowingly intense and spectacular. Great tuba groove with all the horns playing everything and by 20 minutes they are back to the initial theme and *that* would have been worth it. The band isn't just good, some of you know some of the players - Ralph Alessi is a fine trumpeter - Tom Rainey is one of the great drummers of this world - and Michael Attias is a blistering hot alto saxophonist. of the people not as well known - Dan Gerstein on trombone and Dan Peck on tuba are a monsterous team - and the young guys on bass clarinet and baritone are strong young voises on their respective instruments - and the bariton sound from 3 feet away - lordy lordy.... then they played another HOUR straight - yeas maybe it would have been more powerful if they played another 40 or 45 minutes as it was SO intense at times despite there oftn bing no pulse, and many collective improvisations by many different pairings and trios of the band - they played just about all the tunes on the record and I think 1 or 2 new charts...and the high points were many - BUT when the *great* Kris Davis - who might have not hit a piano key or any part of the piano for 20 or 25 mintes straight - starts crashing the inside of the piano with the flat of her palm - I heard/experienced genius - well really despite the band going past what I was expecting which drained my insides a bit - as the music played was beyond intense and often extremley challenging - there was dirge for maybe 8 to 10 minutes that built SO slowly into something beyond where it started - that listening was challenging for the last 10 or 15 misnutes - 10 or 15 minutes longer than I in any way expected the music to last. The greatest strength for me is that this band incorporates the best of the european influences regading the small intense improvisations - Attias and Gerstein especially have phenomenal control over their instruments and the duet passages that included those 2 were a mind fuck - like the best of SME with a modern vibe within the framework of the great tunes of Malaby facilitated by what I now convinced is the genius arranging by Kris Davis. and they could do MUCH more to please the crowd by playing things as great as the opening tune - but they play what they play - they take things to the extrem at times but it is exceptionally gratifying to hear/see/experience a band that is doing what they do, PERIOD, end of story...liek Rainey - as much as I want him to play MORE of the sick explosive grooves that he is great as - and makes people crazy/delirous 0- well it does that to me, at least - they play what they play - PERIOD - and rainey did EXPLODE a few times as di Tony on both the tenor and soprano - so the band has it all.... all in all - simply a great ensemble - and packed into the tiny space with the incredible sound that this band generates - I will not miss this band the next time they play here.. I urge all to experience Tony Malaby's Novela.

although he is only 47 or 48 Tony Malaby is quite a bit better than he was 12-15 years ago. Lucky for me I get another chance tomorrow night to hear and experience his magisterial brilliance up close and personal. Especially on the tenor saxophone, he has refined his own voice to suhc an extent that he sounds like no one else - I told him I think Evan Parker with a groove and melody - which was much less personal on those older records or like on Tom Varner's Second Communion. Mat Maneri is better than he was 10-12 years ago and he was great then (if he wason his game - his brilliance is sometimes a variable thing!) but the last 3 to 4 times I have seen him the last 9 months or so, he is playing at such a high level it is pretty hard to verbalize. Evan Parker got so much better technically from the days of his 20's and 30's as compared to his 40's through 60's (present) Some listeners (not me) still prefer the early pre mid/late 80's Evan Parker - but not this listener.

Pete - If I took pictures I would have snapped a picture of Kidd Jordan giving Charles Gayle a hug this past Sunday night.

fwiw - the suite that In Order to Survive performed last Tuesday June 12th was dedicated to Kalaparusha and titled as such. According to William Parker, he mentioned the great tenor saxophonist is struggling with cataracts and those cataract's effects on his eyesight. William asked any positive thoughts/energy be sent towards Mr. McIntyre. Of which I am sure there were many from the nice crowd @ Roulette. If there was musical justice, that composition/performance (which some of you may have read my thoughts elsewhere) had the power to cure many ills and if it was a different world of music, it may be able to provide some other kind of support as great as the performance was.

love the first Foxes Fox CD - will get the new one soon. maybe my most played Evan Parker recording over the last few years. Louis Moholo-Moholo is superb on that recording

well I was having a little bit of fun regarding discussing the exploits of Cooper-Moore I realize that it was a long time ago - maybe 12-14 years ago - that I saw Cecil Taylor up close @ Tonic playing with Tony Oxley - and certainly this past Tuesday what Cooper-Moore's performance compared favorably with what Cecil Taylor was playing that night as far as dexterity, speed, precision, passion and imagination. What I heard this past Tuesday was a great performance by a great pianist. Maybe I will simply leave it at that. Craig Taborn is a very good/great/wonderful pianist that I enjoy greatly and have seen him 4-5 times live over the last year in a variety of settings and I always leave excited and impressed with his abilities. He was very very good this pat Tuesday. After seeing/hearing Cooper-Moore I almost forgot about hearing Taborn.

maybe more later but a few comments on the first 2 nights.... saw all the bands - can do without the opening invocation but I could still hear Drake, Parker and Cleaver behind the nonsensical wailing of 3 ladies.... and I knew the drummers sounded great from my front row seat.. don't know what Kneebody is or why they were there but it had something to do with a grant....and I waited for Dunmall, Shipp, Morris and Cleaver starts out a bit forced with Dunmall only with his tenor which is a plus - maybe it isn't even his tenor, I don't know. Shipp plays all the time, some strong stuff but too much just rolling on the keys thinking maybe it is like Chris MacGregor but I want some space - but Dunmall often makes me forget about that as he takes the tenor out to great places - then the last 30 minutes of the hour set Paul Dunmall and Gerald Cleaver find an incredible rapport and the set turns magnificent - especially when Shipp finally gives the band some space and let's Dunmall explore the full dynamics of sound and space - the final groove is subtle and immensely powerful. Sharp was fine but the lady singer was a bit much for me Dresser's band good with one great long form thing in the middle with all pieces meshing - highlights are Rudresh and Maroney along with the great bassist good night second night...fine melodic solo set by Eri Yamamoto Farmers by Nature started off very softly and was a challenging hour (in a good way) with fine playing by all 3 - Taborn as good as I expect from him. Darius Jones quartet - shorter set with the highlights being his playing on a couple of ballad like pieces where his sound raises the roof - Matt Mitchell is fine on piano and Smith and Dunn played well - my wife commented that this was a bit more mainstream and both of us enjoyed it - Jones remains a strong newer voice on the alto saxophone... and THEN..... I FORGOT yes - I have seen a great many great drummers the past coupl of years and I did see Cooper-Moore with Cleaver's band last December - and I know these guys been playing together forever - supposedly there is nothing new BLAH BLAH playing a tribute to the hurting Kalaparush Maurice McIntyre who is suffering with blindness from cataracts, William Parker composed the suite that they just premiered in Montreal last weekend. and they go... Cecil Taylor is alive, I know Paul Bley is alive Keith Tippet is alive Cooper-Moore is the greatest pianist alive - well my opinion, of course - but for me last night was beyond anything I have ever seen or heard from at the 88 keys. He improvised plays the thematic material better than the 2 wonderful horn players and his excursions into the stratosphere were superhuman - and his comping!!!!!!! this guy played the phases Brown and Barnes improvising *while* they were playing them - and then the elbows, the knuckles and all of it - and he then knew how to bring the sound down, lay out, come back, build up...we heard 3 good to great pianists the first 3 hours - but Cooper-Moore is beyond any of that - genius is genius - it doesn't come often maybe it doesn't happen all the time as he was wonderful last December - but last night - more than that but I FORGOT Hamid Drake made a fan out of my wife for life - she knows as the *great* Gary Sisco said, that if you bring anyone with an open mind to hear Hamid, they leave knowing they have witnessed the greatest drummer in the world. yes - for what he does, He is the greatest drummer in the world - my wife said it best - he isn't a jazz drummer like all the other ones, even her previous favorite Nasheet Waits...she might even have us coming back next Sunday.. last thing - I told Hamid Monday night that I am bringing my wife on Tuesday to see him and that I told her that she will hear a different or better version of Nasheet..he smiles..he doesn't know me last night he remembers - I met your husband last night, etc. and as always he is the nicest person in the room - the most gracious and Barbara (my wife) gave him a hug and a kiss - and I tell him that I hope he says hello to his friend and mine - Ulrich - when he gets back in Chicago as my wife said, it was the greatest band she ever saw - she isn't a "jazz fan" but she likes the shows - but this is a band that all should see live - Parker's themes were as strong as anything I have heard from him, Rob Brown was stupendous and Barnes was succinct and cutting - and seeing and hearing William Parker and Hamid Drake 10 feet in front of me connect like no other bassist and drummer do was shown during a duo section with Parker playing Parker and Hamid with just his hands - pure magic and telepathy. In Order to Survive

after many years of listening to rock music from my late teens through my 30th birthday (from Credence, Traffic, Steely Dan, Zeppelin, Cream/Clapton, Dead, Allmans, Hendrix, Genesis, Pink Floyd, Gong, Gentle Giant, Eno, Roxy Music, etc. and espceially througout my college years, the band that had it all for me - King Crimoson - especially that amazing 73-74 band that produced Larks Tongues in Aspic, Starless and Bible Black, Red and that incredible live LP - USA I had always somehow knew about jazz - I had a shortterm friend in College in 1978-79 - my freshman year - who had a Coltrane or Freddie Hubbard LP that he played a couple of times - and maybe there was something - and I alwayes remembered a day in January 1979 when I heard about a guy named Charles Mingus who had just died of ALS (to me Lou Gehrig's disease). I had also during those years picked up Birds of Fire and The Inner Mounting Flame which had me try a later McLaughlin LP which did nothing for me and I left it at that... then after falling out of touch a bit with music despite having some interest in REM, Little Feat, maybe Husker Du and The Replacements in the later 80's, I had lost most of my passion for sound/music etc. But I always heard about some crazy band/man named Captain Beefheart - and so on impulse I bought a cassette of an album called Trout Mask Replica - probably bought it around 1990 when I was 30 - and I HATED it but I would not and then could not stop listening to it - it prompted me to buy a CD player as I had to hear ALL of it - I discovered something to care about in music again and reading about him - he mentioned two names Cecil Taylor and Ornette Coleman - I wasn't going there yet - but I woke up one day in 1991 or 1992 and bought 4 CD's: Miles Davis - Kind of Blue Bill Evans - Waltz for Debby Charles Mingus - Live @ Antibes Thelonious Monk - Monk's Music liekd them - missed the rock beat but kept listening and THEN - I really heard "Well You Needn't" and it was over until.... I used to visit Crazy Rhythms in Montclair, NJ and I bought lots of stuff there - but then I heard a few more things and I heard Evan Parker on the radio for his 50th birthday on WKCR and it was HORRIBLE - but I would listen again - and I searched and read and found modern jazz where GIANTS walked this earth and STILL do. Subsequent listening showed me that it isn't just a historic music which is what I gather from so many who still listen to much of the same/similar version of our initial passion - I discovered Parker - Stitt - McLean - Lyons - Osbourne - Chapin - Darius Jones, etc - or Hawkins - Mobley - Gordon - Coltrane - Shepp - Ayler - Parker - Mitchell - Malaby - Dunmall and all in between - what I blessing to learn to listen Monday I see Paul Dunmall/Mark Dresser live among others and Tuesday I see Hamid Drake/Darius Jones/William Parker/Cooper-Moore among others and I am blessed to love this music, old and new and I thankful that I opened my ears to all of iit as I knew already that Don Van Vliet said "if you got ears you gotta listen"

the two great ones on Silkheart are: Worshippers Come Nigh: Charles Brackeen tenor saxophone Olu Dara cornet Fred Hopkins bass Andrew Cyrille drums Dennis Gonzalez Sextet: Dennis Gonzalez trumpet, pocket-trumpet, fluegelhorn, pao de chuva, Pakistani bells, kalimba, vocal Ahmed Abdullah trumpet, fluegelhorn, balafon Charles Brackeen tenor sax, conga Douglas Ewart alto sax, bass clarinet Malachi Favors bass, vocal Alvin Fielder drums, percussion the opening 15 minute title track on this one is one of the great jazz performances ever.

valid point by Chuck - I was fortunate enough @ Han Bennink's 70th birthday concert to have Joe McPhee sitting next to me for the concert - and he is as nice a gentleman as I have met - plus it is always great to see a musician take a train to NYC from upstate NYC to *attend* a show and still be excited to hear music as well as perform music. Allen - for a few years I was unable to attend Vision Fest (due to personal wreckage) and then or before I was too pissed off to attend for some of the same reasons that you cite - I have always felt the narrow-minded focus of the music was a huge hindrance to the vibe which gets so caught up in the past (despite the name of the festival) with a good amount of the music stuck in some sort of late 60's free jazz time warp. And then the last few years the lack of a decent comfortable and acoustically friendly venue was a HUGE negative - and then don't get me started that they don't come close to following a crisp schedule....so I have attended a few nights here and there the past few years. Do I enjoy seeing music @ Vision Fest as much as the places I normally go to? No - but I am hoping for the 3 night I plan to attend this year that it will be a listener friendly environment - and hopefully not just for the *special people*!! The Stone (except from May/June through AUG/SEPT when the temperature is unbearable - you think they could buy a $500 air conditioner?? - instead of the current one that blows warm air?, Jazz Gallery or Cornelia Street - all of these places I can get the best seats as long as I choose to show up early - and that is what I prefer - 3 feet from Mat Maneris' viola and 6 feet from Randy Peterson's bass drum is where I want to be. So again NO, I imagine they will try to cordon off the front rows to the *special people* - except that I will find my way into a couple of those seats - remember the old days @ Tonic where the *special people* got all the best seats - a couple of times I was FIRST in line and I got one of the last seats available...so hopefully that BS will not go on @ Roulette.

It is very heartwarming that after all these many years that there is one subject viewpoint that Pete and I can agree on without hesitation. I like your descriptor 'expressive dance' it is so beat

many points well made and as I have mentioned often in the past it was incredible that William Parker played with almost every band and maybe the greatest bassist alive in the world Peter Kowald made sausage sandwiches save for *maybe* one set he *may* have been involved in. so they come some distance as this year there are numerous fantastic bassists for example from Ken Filiano to Mark Dresser to Michale Bisio to Joelle Leandre appearing. Of course they will always feature many of the same old standbys which some of which some of us may like more than others - for me a few of the bands are of no/little interest to me. I know Pete C is no fan of Paul Dunmall but how many other of you guys have had an opportunity to see him live?? To my ears he is one of the great saxophonists alive and his appearance cannot be overlooked and that quartet should be smoking hot - and yes I can pretty much imagine what it may sould like - but how jaded can one get? What bands are all of you seeing these days or playing in that is creating music you have no idea what it would sound like? Hey - I thought I knew what the Cleaver band with Cooper-Moore, Darius Jones, Pascal Niggenkemper and Brandon Seabrook would sound like and they shocked me and stunned me on how creative and original they were - thank jah I have lost the jaded attitude I see and hear from people here and elsewhere. also I have ZERO interest in the 'poets' or the 'dancers' especially the peace movement leftover bs from the 60's - I don't fit into the political crowd sometimes associated with some of this music - so the vibe has often left me wanting for freshness - all agreed here with that.

very true, Pete it has *always* been mostly many of the same musicians that have been featured with little that is outside the Parker/Nicholson circle, and for a long time I railed about that but I have become much less critical in recent years and much more grateful to see musicians and music that I am interested in. The bands that are playing this year that are outside of that circle (but the first 2 which also play @ various times in NYC) are Mark Dresser's Quintet, Ingrid Laubrock's Anti-House, Kneebody and The Thing.

the move to the new location will be more inconvenient for me as I live in New Jersey but from what I have heard the new Roulette is a good performance space with good sound and air conditioning which is the polar opposite of the awful sound and no air conditioning of the Abrons Art Center where the festival has been held the past few years. as far as the lack of AACM or BAG musicians, that has never been the case with the Vision Festival - sure I would LOVE to see Eight Bold Souls or some of the other Chicago based ensembles that never come to NYC. For years Joseph Jarman and many of the AEC members or AACM members have been very prominent within the festival. I am actually more looking forward to the nights I will be able to attend this year than in any years since ~ 2000 or 2001. I always have wished there was much more diversity in the festival - years back they had Gerry Hemingway's Quintet but the non-NYC high energy was never the focus of the music - but lats year Evan Parker appeared as well as the featured performer/lifetime recipient Peter Brotzmann being featured. on the whole it is still pretty damn hard to complain about a week of music that includes Mats Gustaffson, Joe McPhee, Andrew Cyrille, Reggie Workman, Oliver Lake, Pheeroan akLaff, Kidd Jordan, Hamid Drake, Cooper-Moore, Daniel Levin, Craig Taborn, Mark Dresser, Paal Nilssen-Love, Warren Smith, Sonny Simmons, Wadada Leo Smith, Tom Rainey, Ingrid Laubrock, Mary Halvorson, Charles Gayle, Ivo Perelman, Jeb Bishop, Michael Bisio, Steve Swell, Taylor Ho Bynum, Ken Filiano, Joelle Leandre and Paul Dunmall I sort of ran through the names and picked out the above musicians that I have loved over the years or more recently have become taken with or have a keen interest in listening to - all of the above are superb improvisors. It seems quite short-sighted and jaded to complain about such a line-up. Some people on other boards may remember similar complaints coming from me over the years but let's get a grip - look at who IS playing - for jah's sake the *great* Paul Dunmall is playing in NYC for the first time since 2009. There are at least 4 nights that have at least 2 bands I would go to see if they were the only bands playing - How about Ingrid Laubrock's Anti-House - is no one excited about seeing THAT band? How often does anyone get to see In Order to Survive? or Kidd Jordan with Charles Gayle together in a band with Hamid Drake?

@ Cornelia Street Cafe Mary Halvorson, guitar Jonathan Finlayson, trumpet Jon Irabagon, alto sax Stephan Crump, bass Ches Smith, drums I have only seen a couple of the musicians before and hadn't even heard 3 of them ever at all...fwiw...I had also never listened to Mary's trio or quintet on recordings...so the only ideas I had about what the music would be like was in my head based on hearing Halvorson live a couple of month's back. maybe surprisingly I was not surprised at how good the band was (very good with a few quibbles) or what the band sounded like (maybe I wanted to be more surprised) highlights were Halvorson's tunes/compositions or as she calls them 'songs' which is quite refreshing, I think - 'songs' which come across to me as very melodic and maybe even hypynotic at their best. The first set was good with each member taking some solo space - on a few occasions unaccompanied - the first being a bass solo on the first tune (also I figured when I listened to the disc yesterday also the first track on the new CD) a solo which was pretty non-descript but also a couple of stellar drum solos by Smith during the short first set (both sets were about 45-50 minutes each). The ending of the first tune was a bit racous and it laid down the foundation (not a formula but maybe a bit too close to one for my tastes) for how the night's music would be - wonderful melodies and harmonies with quite a bit of changes/developments within the compositions which kept it interesting from a compositional perspective. By the end of the first set, I was bit dissapointed in that the band never really hit any real incredible highpoints as the trumpeter (Jonathan Finlayson) and alto saxophonist (Jon Irabagon) played nicely but never took the music to places where *I* like to to see it go, plus the bassist only picked up the bow once for a very short interlude. But that is me - I enjoyed the music but for me I am looking for something transporting or at least beyond scintillating - thankfully I got some of that in the next set.... never leave before the second set ever not as stark a difference as some recent second sets, but by the time they were well into the first tune, I felt a whole different level/energy at play - Irabagon played a pretty damn great solo which for some reason had me thinking Paul Desmond or Stan Getz (I know alto versus Getz's tenor) and he hit all the right notes - few that I expected to hear - his sound is a fairly light tone with an alto sound that he isn't as gruff as maybe I expected (wanted?!?!) to hear so the sound of surprise was making itself heard. Mary Halvorson is simply one incrediable guitarist who rarely if ever shows off and just plays as unique and compelling a guitar as I can expect any guitarist to play. I could listen to her forever I think. The changes from a 'jazz' sounding guitar to distortion is organic and never seesm to be doen for 'effect'. then the bassist and drummer go off on this bowing thingy and *then* Mr. Stephan Crump showed himself to be superb with the bow and everything else (where was that bassist the first set??) and the trumpeter hit his vibe - channeling Booker Little or even Kenny Dorham at times as he was really somewhat traditional in his approach (as was Irabagon) where by the last tune despite all evidence the the contrary I heard Free for All/Shorter penned Messenger tunes as an influence to the whole band WITHOUT the Blakey type of loud drumming with no tradition swing but with a strong grooves often driving the band and the music (Smith is a very subtle drummer who choose his explosions at the kit very carefully for them to carry full impact) or traditional changes - what I heard overall was a band playing some great tunes very well. My quibbles are that the compositions, as good as they are, could be heard to constrict the band's full potential as I would love to hear them stretch them even further and at times forget about the tunes - as some of the best moments/passages were when the band really started to let loose - minor complaints I think - as this IS a band and a guitarist that DEMANDS to be heard - and her humlity and taste is a major reaon I left wanting for a third set....

heard a good young player last night - Jon Irabagon on alto saxophone with Mary Halvorson's band. channeling Paul Desmond through some sort of time delay - wonderous stuff especially during one longish solo in the second set - no flash all substance - gorgeous tone.

for whatever unknown reason I will keep the recordings within the most narrow definitions of jazz rather than list what some here may just assume is some obscure out-there insect music like european improvisational recording once released on an artist thread on 20 copies of vinyl back in the day.... not sure how well known these discs/recordings are around here as I am a long-time veteran reader/poster of another board so I am not as up on the history here as I would be elsewhere. So I will start with the obvious for me - CD's that very few ever seemed to recognize/take aan interest in DESPITE their obvious greatness.... 1) Pino Minafra Sud Ensemble: Sudori - on Victo - maybe 1994 or so - great band with the *great* Carlo Actis Dato on saxophones featured alng with the leader on trumpet, etc. Pure genius 2) Mujician: Birdman - on cunieform from 1992 or so, Mujician is Paul Dunmall, Keith Tippett, Paul Rogers and Tony Levin - seemingly written roaring free jazz with a melodic energy unmatched in modern jazz - Dunmall and Levin with mayeb their strongest recorded statements to my ears - except for Dunmall - much to choose from that is on the highest level. 3) Mal Waldron Quartet: Git Go at The Utopia - either volume with John Betsch, Ed Schuller and Jim Pepper on mostly tenor - from 1986 or 1987 - as good as Waldron' music ever was. 4) Denis Charles Quartet: Captain of the Deep - on eremite 1991 with Jemeel Moondoc on alto saxophone, Nathan Breedlove on trumpet and Wilber DeJoode on bass. Moondoc's greatest performance on record and the guy named Breedlove is out of the world - like Ornette's music moved a bit right and left with the drummer who takes Blackwell's minimalism and refines it - plus the recording quality is outrageous - the great drummer sounds awesome. 5) Gerry Hemingway Quintet: The Marmalade King - on hatART - 1993 - simply the greatest recording by the greatest touring band of the 90's - great sound quality and Michael Moore, Wolter Wierbos, Ernst Reijseger, Mark Dresser and the drummer take this 54 minute suite to places thought impossible many more of course but keep it to 5 was the charge, but these 5 are great records for anyone interested in jazz of the past 25 years

yes - when Nasheet gets it going, there are few who can get the intensity and groove to that kind of level - one night with Ellery Eskelin and Gary Versace, he pushed the trio to some incredible heights plus my wife thought he was so great he should be on TV in prime time. sounds like it was a great night

thanks for your civil response, JETman this is not a new subject/discussion on line - back in the early days when I and others saw those bands, specifically the Holland band back in 1999 - there were a number of very learned experienced observers/listeners who attended the show @ the Knitting Factory and the CD that came out a while later was called "Prime Directive" which in retrospect is a nice CD by a GREAT band - and what follwed were more nice CD's by a GREAT band. I have no idea if you can find the discussion as it was on an older version of another current jazz BBS - but EVERYONE who saw that band live was extremely dissapointed in the CD - and it wasn't that Potter and Drummond didn't play well - but the ECM aesthetic somehow often does not capture the energy of some of these great bands. there are many labels that while they may not be as long lasting as ECM - that have a grand history of releasing music by bands/musicians that captures those bands/musicians as they sound/close to how they sound/with the energy/vibe that they have in person. as you may have noted from my comments here and above, I am relating personal experiences with concrete examples - and ANYONE who may have heard bands that have recorded on ECM as compared to recordings for example on hatART will note the difference. I do realize that Manfred would not be interested in a two-track vivid live recording like 'At The Vortex' or 'The Two Seasons' (Evan Parker with John Edwards and Mark Sanders) - also on emanem - but imagine if the band that recorded "The Dark Tree" (the seminal all-time classic Horace Tapscott 2 CD set with John Carter, Cecil McBee and Andrew Cyrille) recorded for ECM - I say they take the edge and the fire out of Cyrille's kit, and maybe even the crunch out of Tapscott piano and John Carter's legendary clarinet sound. maybe I am wrong - but I would like to hear a newer ECM that doesn't make any band sound more subdued just for one time..... in any event there are many labels that do bands justice and the idea that ECM is the most or second greatest jazz label along with blue note is like saying Herbie Hancock is a better pianist than Horace Tapscott or Mal Waldron or Paul Bley or Cooper-Moore just because the number say so. Standing on a Whale Fishing for Minnows