Steve Reynolds

A couple of us said after the second set, "they can play whatever they want to play" Sleep on that line just a little bit...... All Misha compositions all night interspersed with magic. Save for the encore - Caravan Ernst Glerum was tonight's MC/director Prayers for the great man - word is he can't talk any longer so he whistles. His spirit was in the room tonight (last night as it is 5 past midnight). Yes they may be ditties (I very much like the visual) but some of them are a bit more - a little bit of genius at play. 2 or 3 minute slices of a afternoon carnival. And that horn section with Marcus Rojas. And when he stands up. And when he shakes the foundation. Forget the horn section. The fucking brass?!?!? Is Heberer human? More later Peace and Blessings

Front row center. Fired up

Just arrived in Brooklyn. Traffic insane. Just said hello to Han Bennink & Mary Oliver. Life is beautiful

I like what my old friend John L said above. Sincerity. I'll add honesty without pretension and arrogance. Remember when Wynton started giving his guys nicknames? Stultifying arrogance. Warmdaddy?!?!? Spare us People in the 80's and 90's acting like they were the ones making shit happen. Latching on the legends while missing the dudes who made it happen in the 60's, 70's & 80's. Honest sincere music always rings true.

Thanks, Larry & Clunky As you might know, I get pretty fired up for live shows. Now hearing such great things about Guus Janssen, as well as knowing that two of the best NY improvisors/musicians will be jointing the Orchestra tomorrow night, has me on the edge of euphoria!!! Some would say on the edge of insanity.

I'm very glad I'm seeing the band on their second night in NY:) I liked your descriptions Mr. Litweiler. I do find Misha's pieces a bit more than ditties but it's not a bad descriptor. I do find great joy in their carnival nature. Having not been that familiar with Breuker or his band save for one live concert, and my memory of the show was substandard drumming and rhythm. It left me with little interest to follow through to hear more. I found that their "humour" was not backed up by anywhere near the improvisors that you saw the other night. As compared to the driving force of Bennink, Glerum and Honsinger which is a great strength of the ICP band.

Alms/Tiergarten (Spree) is among my favorite Cecil Taylor recordings. It's got lots of my guys on it and they are all playing at a very inspired level. It must have been an overwhelming experience for them.

First time I heard ICP play live, I knew very little about them. It must have been around 1999 or 2000. When they played an obscure (well for me, it was) Ellington piece (may have been Village of the Virgins) towards the end of the set, the place was abuzz with energy and true excitement like we were hearing something new for the first time, like they were playing something new for the first time. When I heard them play Jackie-Ing, I was as excited as when I *heard* Monk for the first time. Why? Maybe humour. Maybe Misha. Methinks a lack of taking themselves way too seriously. Seems to me since they are simply playing music and simply improvising that the music breaths. Breaths deeply and therefore is fresh and new like it was the first time. Thanks for the post, Larry

Two Days!! Michael, Ab, Toby, Thomas, Wolter, Mary, Tristan, Ernst, Han!!! Plus Gus Jansen (sp?) plus the *great* Mary Halvorsen & the wonderous Marcus Rojas!!! If I went tomorrow I would hear Ray Anderson & Wolter Wierbos together!!!

As good as it gets

As good as it gets Thanks for posting this Thanks, John

"Evening Might Still" Last track from Myra Melford's "Even the Sounds Shine" Marty Ehrlich's bass clarinet improvisation is beyond possible. Yes, it is that great.

I do the same. I hope you may have stumbled upon either or both of the Avaialble Jelly Live in Nassau discs. Michael Moore has many nice recordings floating around but for me, these two are desert island material. I picked up a nice Toby Delius trio disc called Booklet last time I saw the band. I'll be looking for a few Ab Baars discs this Thursday!!!

The *best* Parker-Guy-Lytton on record Do you have "The Two Seasons"??!??! Sorry to report--no. Will have to remedy that. My copy is gone. I lent it to someone I'll never lend anything to again. Best Mark Sanders and John Edwards on record. Parker mostly on tenor and playing at a very high level.

The *best* Parker-Guy-Lytton on record Do you have "The Two Seasons"??!??!

Thank Jah no politics @ organissimo People I like or even love hath vastly different viewpoints on economics and politics if they like that Times writer. I found out in life it's good to be wrong and I may well be - and I've come to believe it doesn't matter very much to me

YEAH. Good for you, xybert! I'm not even a Steve Coleman fan -- I'm not really familiar with his music -- but I'm glad that you're sticking up for him!!! Sheesh, a simple article about Steve Coleman -- and suddenly there's a big storm of HATE -- about the artist and the writer. Good grief, people! To be fair, I don't think anyone is hating on Steve Coleman. I don't see that anywhere. As for the writer: broken clock, etc. Not even me, but the idea that The NY Fucking Times places jazz musicians in the pantheon and that their stamp of approval or the Village Fucking Vanguard's booking has any bearing on who is who and who is what in this music is patently fucking absurd. Standing on a Whale Fishing for Minnows

I could see 20 shows per month like some people I know. I could travel to Germany and England and Italy to see some musicians I've never seen live. I could listen to music 40-50 hours a week like I did for a good 10-15 years when I was younger and was living a different lifestyle (ahem) None of the above is possible or preferable for me to live a sane life so I pick my musical searches pretty carefully these days. If you've followed any of my journeys here and there, you might know I've touched base with a sorts of music. He had a good 25 minutes in an incredibly charged atmosphere at that concert and he didn't take advantage. In fact, he had my attention when he started playing and didn't by the time he stopped. I could not listen to Wire, Keith Rowe, The Grateful Dead, Jason Lescalleet, Yo La Tengo or Giant Sand. I could stop wasting some other time following Captain Sig.... But for music, live especially, I see 10 shows I'd like to see over the next 2 months - but my life will give me 3-5 that I will actually see. I choose ICP with Mary Halvorsen & Marcus Rojas next Thursday Vinny Golia with Max Johnson & Tom Rainey on May 23rd Myra Melford, Mark Dresser & Matt Wilson first set on May 27th. Second set Dresser with Larry Ochs & Vladimir Tarasov. I guess I could do better but I don't know what could be much better than those 3 nights? Vijay Iyer?!?!?! Don't think so

Pay attention to Steve Coleman? To what extent? Instead of? Seems to me I can think of numerous less discussed musicians who deserve a whole bunch of attention. For NYC musicians. I start with Mat Maneri. Kris Davis. Taylor Ho Bynum. Mary Halvorsen. Tony Malaby. Ingrid Laubrock. Mark Helias. Tom Rainey. Gerald Cleaver. Sylvie Courvoisier. Mark Dresser. ETC. Next, we can let the Chicago home boys start a nice list of wall shakers.... Should I demand you start paying attention to them, Jim? Since when is Steve Coleman some kind of iconic master innovator/improvisor that demans to be heard? Now I will demand you start paying attention to Mark Sanders and John Edwards. Well no I won't but maybe my point is being made. Why is Steve Coleman so special that I must NOT sleep on him, but Mat Maneri is OK to ignore?!?!?

I dunno One thing I'll do is get the latest Steve Coleman disc that many here that I highly respect are raving about. I am intrigued that you all really like Steve Coleman so much. My experience is very limited although my listening efforts of 15 years ago were pretty thorough yet fruitless..... I did see him play a short solo set @ Anthony Braxton's 65th birthday celebration concert @ Le Poisson Rouge a few years back and was thoroughly underwhelmed. I was thinking "in this spot - and that is all you got?!?!?" I mean a little bit later, John Zorn, Dave Douglas, Marlilyn Crispell, Mark Dresser & Gerry Hemingway blew the roof off the place - so I was again not prompted to investigate further despite all the fancy stuff that's been written about him over the years One more shot forthcoming As far as Iyer, Finlaysen and some of the others in the circle, they all have struck me as one rung below the dudes and dudettes of similar generations who make the walls shake.

Why anyone needs validation by the jazz mainstream is beyond me Nate should know the reason he is playing at The Village Vanguard is that the club has finally started booking some bands other than pure mainstream musicians. Nothing to do with 'validation by the jazz mainstream' whatever the hell that means.

You got that right Steve, can I get you a ticket? I wish. One Day I get there... At least I have ICP next Thursday with special guests Marcus Rojas & Mary Halvorsen!!! Plus I get great American improvisors as regular as I need - a couple of weeks l should get to see Vinny Golia with Max Johnson and the always great Tom Rainey!!! Then Gerry Hemingway at The Stone for a week end of July/beginning of August!!! Plus word is that they will have a better working air conditioner!!! As my pal Maurice said the other night, he will believe it when he *FEELS* it!!!

Am I reading this correctly that Evan Parker, Paul Dunmall, John Edwards and Tony Bianco are playing at The Vortex on May 21st?!?!? If so, if there is any way to move the trip up one day.......

I told Tom Rainey after the two sets that I need to wait at least a week to listen to the new disc. I have to let what I just heard from 8 feet away sink in. The band is perfectly balanced, full of twists and turns and doesn't rely on their brilliant technique to show off. Cerebral yet powerful. Plus they don't take themselves too serious. No arrogancd or pretentious in anything they play. I'm they do wonder why more people don't listen as they are as accesable as any so-called avant-garde jazz trio I know. One reason might be that they get into a good place and the easy crowd pleasing way would be to milk it as far as it goes. They never stay in a groove or a mode too long - they are always looking for the next unexpected invention. No 7 or 10 minute solos over rhythm with this group. Helias was playing an awesome fast bass line with Rainey at one point and it would have been great if they played it for 30 minutes with Malaby coming in with a roaring free bop tenor - but this trio is way more than that. Way more than that. People got ears - maybe they might listen.... I've now heard the band play most or all of the new Helias compositions twice over 4 sets (last night and last December). The band was on a higher level last night. They extended the shortish tunes (they range from 3 to 6 minutes or so on the disc) or they meld them into others. They only played 2-3 older compositions each night. Rainey was roaring last night and my guy Malaby is playing the soprano better than he ever has. There were a few passages that I could barely believe what I heard. As has been said previously this is the first recording or shows with Open Loose to feature Tony on the straight horn as well as the tenor. He probably played soprano about 35-40% of the two sets. Fwiw, my wife said this band is as good as it gets:) Reason being for her is that they combine great tunes and groove with the best saxophonist in the world:) at least by far her favorite!!!

Btw John Carter is brilliant throughout.