Matthew

I lost Andrew Hill about three years ago. I even had all of his record output but, one day, I just lost any interest I had in him. His music just seems very aimless to me. Maybe I'll get him again, you never know. AND, don't bother to ask, I traded in all my Hill cd/lps, I've kept the Mosaic though, which I still enjoy.

S*A*T*U*R*D*A*Y Night! Bay City Rollers, baby! B)

What label is it on - for 4 ears? Yes, that was the label. I've always found interesting the move to incorporate electronics and jazz. Looks like this label is a good place to start, here's their WEB SITE, if anyone is interested. Also able to listen to two others: Theo Jorgensmann Quartet: Snijbloeman (Hatology) which I liked upon the first listen. It is a rather subduded recording, and the artist that stood out for me was Christopher Dell on vibes. Dell was really locked in with the drummer, Klaus Kugel; a lot a of great interaction between the two of them. This cd won't blow anyone out of the water, but it's a keeper. The other disk that I listened to is The Transcendentalists: Real Time Messengers with Daniel Carter, Steve Swell, Tom Abbs, and David Brandt (CIMP#264). A ton of great blowing, with Steve Swell especially being in great form. In fact, it sounded to me that Swell is the person everyone is playing off of, he just seemed to be holding the center together. About Daniel Carter: I love him on William Parker's Painter's Spring, but here, I don't feel his playing makes as strong of an impact as it should. I'll have to spin it a few more times and concentrate on him, but overall, a nice effort from everyone. Edit: Klaus Kugel is the drummer, don't know why I said bass, my brain must have froze on me.

Made a run to Amoeba this afternoon a got a number of cds. One I thought interesting was e_a.sonata.02 by Urs Leimgruber, Gunter Muller & ARTE Quartet. Has a lot of processed drums, ipod, etc., but still, interesting music. Just one piece, recorded at the Theatre La Fourmie in Lucerne, with the music having a very ambient tone to the thing. If anyone is interested in the combination of eltronica + jazz sensibility, this is worth checking out.

Just a couple of points: First: I think Miles was one of the most aware musicians ever. He listened to what was around him, and listened to himself closely. So any change of style by Davis was a conscious choice by him. Second: A more spare soling style was not a "road less traveled." Quick runs might have been the style for bop, but Miles did know the prebop trumpet tradition, and was influenced by that style. So, in some ways, Miles was solidly in the tradition. Third: When Coltrane left the Davis Quintet, there was another shift in the way Davis played. He played with much more power, a ferocious style. Then, of course, Miles again played differently during his "electric years". So, I quess what I'm saying, is that to my mind, there is no single way or style that Miles played, his genius lies in the fact he always was hearing something new and changed to play what he heard.

Well, as usual, I'm behind the listening curve here, but I just want to also say that this is truly a great cd, and thanks Chuck for the reissue. As has been pointed out before, this cd is fulled with joy, and that just radiates off this disk. A. Spencer Barefield is very inventive with his playing, and Jaribu Shaid & Tani Tabbal really add great touches throughout the session. Of course, Mitchell and Ragin work well together and seem to supply each other with great musical ideas at every moment. So, I may be coming in late on this, but it's a wonderful cd, and I'm hoping that Nonaah will also be re-released. Thanks again Chuck for getting this music out.

I just wanted to bring this up because this Jimmy Lyons' Box Set is some kind of wonderful. Lyons is able to "tell a story" with every solo, with every composition, with every aspect you can think of in this box set. I've even found his solo concert great, and I usually find those kinds of things tedious beyond belief. There can't be too many left out of the run of 500, and once it's gone, you'll be kicking yourself that you missed out. Really, just beautiful music.

I see where everyone is "Chopin at the bit" to get their puns in on this one.

After some ear problems that kept me from listening to music (life was mono for quite awhile) for almost three months, I'm now able to slowly get back to music again. Now I'm listening to disk 5 from the Jimmy Lyons Box Set and this concert from the Tufts Jaz Festival is just amazing. I had never heard Karen Borca before and she is a major revelation, such creative playing from a basson, of all things. Some people dump on the sound for this concert, but it is more than o.k. Of course, Lyons himself is a fount of great playing. If anyone comes across this box set -- get it! It just keeps getting better and better.

Finding out from that book Pepper's absolute hatred of anyone who "snitches anyone out," I finally understood Pepper's long standing dislike for Chet Baker. Baker, dispite being arrested many times, never went to jail. Hmmm .... I wonder why .

I'm about half-way through vol. 1 of Rising Up and Rising Down by William T. Vollman. I was surprised to learn only 3,500 copies of this have been printed. It's a very interesting and different read. Vollman is trying to come to somekind of understanding of violence, and what is justified violence. It's challenging in the ways he looks at the world and how we live in it. Kind of depressing, and it's also daunting to know I have 3,300 more pages I get to read .

And I would say that with the "technical difficulties" on the EMI websites, it's going to be getting bloodly very soon.

This might sound strange, but B-3er, your avatar reminds me of the inside of a Lesile amp. You know, the turning wheel part? Oh, BTW: My avatar is in honor of opening day in baseball and one of my all-time favorite players -- Jackie Robinson.

I would not be surprised if the Andrew Hill Mosaic isn't one of the lowest selling ones. Must be only abuot 3,000 sets out there, if that -- thank goodness I have one of those!

Here's the LINK. Enjoy.

The most "Over the Top" post (but I loved it ).

I'm reading the Everyman's Library edition, the whole 1,250+ pages. It is fun, and I'm learning a lot too.

I've been reading a lot recently due to a MAJOR, depressing, malfunction of my left ear. It's so bad right now that, five weeks ago, I packed up all my audio equipment and stored it in my closet, awaiting a time where my world is no longer mono. Well, anyway, still reading John Powell's A Dance to the Music of Time. It's my second time wading through it, and I must admit, I have come to the conclusion that it's not all that great, but since I started it, I want to go to the bitter end. However, I've finally done something I wanted to do all my life: I'm reading Bosewell's Life of Samuel Johnson, and it's a hoot! Just a fascinating look at life in London during the 1700s, and the life of a very interesting character, to say the least. Has great laugh-out-loud moments, along with paragraphs that are a wonder to behold. The most fun book I've read in a while.

Just walked into Ameoba's on Sunset Blvd., and it was right there. Probaly can order it on line at Redtrumpet, etc. Great Record!

Had to go out of town for a couple of days, so I brought a book that I hadn't read in a long while: William Carlos Williams Spring and All. What an amazing book of poetry and prose it is! Sometimes I forget how new and radical the writers in the 1920's really were. I've been becoming very interested in the Advant-garde, its history, and also, A/V in modern jazz. Just a very exciting topic, and Spring and All has to be the clarian call for, not just the American A/V, but for all American artists. Glad I took it, even if I did have to suffer through boring meetings.

The Blue Note Street Team at its best.

Yeah, what's up with THAT? Hey, I can make a short list too! look: ... Barbara Bel Geddes Look, Midge, I'm cured. Oh, Scottie!

Thanks for the heads-up on that Jim. I, too, have really gotten into Ellery's music, and I never have gone the the "ask the artist forum" over at that "other board." Hope you don't get banned from here for the recommendation .

This cd, Ellery Eskelin & Han Bennink: Dissonant Characters, is very good. Eskelin has a great grasp on the blues roots of jazz and it shows in his playing on this disk. Very controlled, precise playing, always to the point, that is always on target. Like the way he's playing on the Monk tunes especially, gets into the heart of the tune and digs deep. This Bannik guy is also interesting, you never know what he's up to next. Too bad I'm going away on business for a couple of days, lost my portable cd player.

One of the obvious concerns that Mike has at AAJ is the steep decline in particapation and quality in the last couple of months -- a fact he has alluded to more than a couple of times. He might feel, justly perhaps, that Organissimo and The Jazz Corner have become the jazz boards of choice right now, but, I don't see how this new policy can stop the tide, the plan fact, except of a couple of posters at AAJ, the quality has gone downhill lately. This policy will only increase the decline, not stop it.