Steve Reynolds

Not my “go to” label as it's quality & sound are a notch below the true ‘concierge’ labels such as Not Two, Intakt, Ayler, Nessa, Trost & No Business. In the past I’d put Hat ART, Silkheart & even Okkadisc in the premium label category. Clean Feed is kind of like Cunieform in that regard although the British label is much more attuned to self-editing. so I only dabble in their releases as there are so (too?!?!) many but a few of the ones I’ve heard that are close to classic/top notch include some mentioned above and the few mentioned below: Ticonderoga: McPhee is great here as is the quartet - especially great to get a rare hearing of Charles Downs behind the kit John Butcher with The Red Trio: Summer Skyshift. Great to hear the great trio in a blistering set with Butcher in his more agressive & expressive free jazz mode Tamarindo - the first one with Malaby, William Parker & Nasheet Waits - the last one (Somos Agusti) is good as well but neither gets to the core power of the great trio when they hit the groove. Malaby’s Novella is also a good release but don’t expect much roaring tenor - the band is the story here. avoid the Tamarindo with Wadada Leo Smith - the sound is hideous - one wonders if anyone listened to the recording before they released it!!! Parker-Guy-Lytton with Peter Evans: Scenes from the House of Music - greatvsession but the sound doesn’t match what one would hear on Intakt & certainly not the depth of sound that happens on a Not Two release. “Soul Food” from Brotzmann with Edwards & Noble is an example of something NOT to get - again one wonders who is minding the store....way to many other tremendous Peter Brotzmann releases on better labels - I should have taken my own advice hear as well...

Now:)

Like most us here I’ve listened to a large amount of Coltrane over the years but I’m thoroughly uninterested in hearing this. Just where I’m at. MUCH more interested in current or more recent jazz/improvised music Not as many shows this year but maybe 20-25 per year over the past 9-10 years and I buy and listen to a decent amount of newer creative exciting music. Just ordered the new 5 CD box called Diversity from Zlatko Kaucic - a drummer I recently discovered via an amazing Not Two recording. This new box features Evan Parker, Lotte Anker, Rafal Mazur & Agusti Fernandez among others. This I’m excited to hear especially the trio session with Kaucic, EP & Fernandez. Not that’s an exciting discovery to me.

I’ve always dreamed/fantasized about hearing tenor saxophinists other than Rouse playing with Monk - but in altered reality tenor players who came after Monk - many of whom have covered Monk in amazing ways with post-Monk musicians or bands - all of whom to my ears are much more interesting players than Rouse.

Immediate order. Fired Up!!

Simply amazing sound from Booker here

His large ensemble Bik Bent Braam (I think I have the spelling close) has some tremendous recordings. Growing Pains (2 CD set) is worth the search.

Over the last few days (among other things) I listened to 4 longish form improvisations of ~ 15, 18, 25 & 19 minutes plus a 70 minute or so continuous Grateful Dead Live segment. Thank jah there are no time limits like 6 minutes per track. those improvised pieces were made by musicians such as Evan Parker, Barry Guy, Agusti Fernandez, Peter Evans, Lucas Niggli & others. There are many brilliant recordings of Evan Parker of pieces up to or longer than 45 minutes. Are there too many? Ha I saw Evan in a quartet with John Escreet, John Hebert & Tyshawn Sorey when one piece lasted almost 50 minutes. Maybe someone should have stopped the set!! hopefully that show gets released on disc one of these days

Opening night tomorrow night - listed as Sold Out which is not surprising - I’ll be there and then on either Friday or Sunday night. Looks like Charles Gayle is NOT listed any longer but I still will probably go that night for the first two quartets

Most of my listening these days is in the car and I have lots of 45 minute to 1 hour drives - perfect for good long slabs of improvised music or big parts of Grateful Dead shows. These 2 sorts of music is about 90% of the type/sort of music I listen to these days.

Thanks for posting that Uli:) I’ll be seeing a few of our heroes next week. I’ll be sure to say hello to Hamid & Kidd for you:)

The new Evan Parker recording with Dave Holland, Craig Taborn & Ches Smith is on the way! Among others but this one I’m really looking forward to hearing

In the middle of the first disc (concert from October 8th, 1997 in Oslo) Building up a whole lot of steam after Hamid’s solo which starts about 18-20 minutes in and builds to a climax ~5 minutes later. All alto saxophone so far from Frode.

Surprised and happy the shows are from as early as 1997

Great idea so I don’t need to see this sub-forum clogged up with pictures

Mine just arrived @ US post office in Wayne, NJ (10:19 A.M.) which is where I live!

Mine was shipped on 4/13 - it’s now somewhere between Kentucky & New Jersey and has been for 3-4 days!

Fwiw the Dead are playing “Playing in the Band” even when it goes way way out just as when they play 35 minute versions of “Dark Star” or “The Other One”, they are still playing “Dark Star” or “The Other One”. there are many many compositions on the jazz/free jazz vein that steer far from the thematic or harmonic materials - this does NOT mean they have “discarded” the tune. Some of the most interesting modern compositional approaches blur these issues. Gerry Hemingway, Mary Halvorson, Tony Malaby, Mats Gustafsson, Ken Vandermark, Ingrid Laubrock, Tyshawn Sorey, May Maneri, Andrew Drury, Tim Berne and many other modern composers have developed very intriguing and viable compositions that meld improvisation and composition in ways that we sometimes “think” that the composition has went the way of the wind when maybe the connection is just a bit more subtle than we might have ears for.

Amazon - ~$55 for the 4 CD set - not bad for a Not Two release

Ordered: 4 CD box of Frode Gjerstad w/William Parker & Hamid Drake - on Not Two Records 4 CD box Mats Gustafsson 50th Birthday concerts from 2014 with many interesting musicians playing with Mats - on Trost Records newest Parker-Guy-Lytton recording on Intakt

Received mine a few days new at that nice low price starting with the later 3/24 concert with So What, On Green Dolphin Street & All Blues I’ve heard all this before but unless I’m mistaken it seems the sound quality is much better than on any of the previous bootlegs & grey market issues I’ve heard. It’s been a very long time since I’ve listened to this era Miles or Trane and they are sounding so in sync that it’s scary how great this group was. Miles is in superb form and we all know about Coltrane during these years. Kelly imo never played better than in the period and he sounds so assured on this show.

Thanks for this post (and all your comments over the years) fwiw I’ve missed my share of seeing the living masters - whoever someone else or I or you or the cognoscenti says they are - and I’ve never beat myself for missing 3 or 4 of the great pianists - yes I missed Paul Bley, Don Pullen, Mal Waldron and most of all I missed Horace Tapscott when I had one chance to see him shortly before he became ill. But I saw Cecil twice and the one time with Tony Oxley from 10 feet away had some of the EFFECT that so many have commented on over the past 2 days. so I will NOT miss Archie Shepp on 5/23. Never the biggest follower but he IS Archie Shepp and I understand what that means. Plus even though I’ve seen Charles Gayle a few times I will NOT miss him on 5/27. Plus Edward “Kidd” Jordan is also playing on 5/23 and although I’ve seen him numerous times these opportunities are not to be missed. Plus I’m going this year as the Vision Fest is thankfully back in Roulette in Brooklyn. I imagine the atmosphere on 5/23 with Andrew Cyrille playing in 2 bands will be heavy with Cecil Taylor’s spirit

I’m very gratified for this post especially as I know you were his friend. I’m very much looking forward to May 23rd - the opening night of Vision Fest when Andrew is playing in 2 bands. I’m very sure Cecil’s spirit will be strongly felt on that night.

It will take a while to take this in RIP to the great man who opened up my ears to everything

Plus I have most or all of these concerts on various grey area issues over the years but I want to hear this music in hopefully better sound. Plus I’m hoping it awakens a bit of a dormant fire which is at a low low simmer these days for historical Miles & Coltrane music. I’m mostly in a current free jazz/improv listening mode along with massive amounts of Grateful Dead music and I’ve been in that mode for 2-3 years now.