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Vandermark Five - Alchemia


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Hi All,

Anyone here going to be getting this massive set? 12 CD's worth of live V5 material! I've managed to find the list of tracks here:

http://www.nottwo.com/PelnaPlyta.php?Id=296

These guys were/are amazing live, full of fire and energy. Last time I saw them was about 2 years ago now, and their version of "Wherever Junebugs Go" just floored me! It burned!!!

Oh yeah, I seem to remember our good man "Mnytime" was at that show as well (I saw him talking to KV at the end of the show)! It wasn't long after this show that he disappeared from the board...

Any thoughts on this set?

Cheers,

Shane

OH YEAH -- If I've missed discussion of this set, please forgive me (I did a search, but found nothing)...

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Clem,

There's no there, there, right? And dedication=name dropping, correct? Noted.

You've effectively and cleverly made your points about KV on many occasions here. Why not leave some space in this thread for those of us who, for whatever inscrutable reasons, are still into his stuff.

I'm not trying to start anything here, especially about this issue which has been explored ad nauseum. There's so much that we appreciate in common, why amplify the differences with a bomb like this?

Probably won't buy this but would sure like to hear it. Anybody see a price attached?

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Probably won't buy this but would sure like to hear it. Anybody see a price attached?

According to Chaney, in the Funny Rat thread:

"Here’s what Marek Winiarski of Nottwo has to say:

Thank you for your interest in our releases. The box should be available in about 10 days. The total cost including postage to the USA will be $129.99 There will be no problem to pay via PayPal for example. "

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I'm a V5 fan, and I'm interested in this box (don't know if I'm $129 interested), but I thought Clem's post was pretty funny--I mean, the tune dedication thing is getting to be more amusing (non-V5 fans would probably say irritating) than anything else. I was actually hoping that this box would be an overview of the V5's whole performing career, rather than a one-week snapshot... so the jury's still out for me on this one.

Are they still together? Someone asked KV that on his AAJ thread, and he never responded... at least, not that I saw.

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Guest Chaney

I thought I'd save this here as this stuff tends to eventually disappear.

I consider the five night stand by the Vandermark 5 at Alchemia in Krakow, Poland from March 15 -19, 2004, to be one of the highlights of my career. The fact that record producer / presenter, Marek Winiarski, documented the series and is now releasing the material as a box set is truly remarkable, and I am very thankful to him and everyone who was involved in realizing this project; particularly the musicians, Jeb Bishop, Tim Daisy, Kent Kessler, and Dave Rempis.  As always, they  worked extremely hard during this residency, which came at the end of a three week European tour.

During our concerts at Alchemia, the Vandermark 5 performed 2 different sets of music with at least one encore every night, a total of 55 pieces: 32 compositions from 8 different albums, including 3 world premiers - "Camera", "That Was Now" and "Pieces Of The Past". What you hear on this collection of recordings is the best available representation of how the band actually sounded and worked in this period, with one marked difference.  For the first time we were able to live and play in one city for 5 days, which meant I was afforded the opportunity to compose in the morning and rehearse material with the band in the afternoon, then play this material at the evening concert, each and every day.  As someone who has always idolized Duke Ellington's methods of creativity, I conceived of the Vandermark 5 from the beginning as an attempt to develop, as close as I could, a working band based on Ellington's example.  The quintet was formed in the spring of 1996, and by the time these concerts occurred four of the members had been working together since 1997, and the fifth, Tim Daisy, had been with the band for more than 2 years.  Over that stretch of time, the Vandermark 5 went from being a workshopping unit that performed every week during the late 1990's at the Empty Bottle in Chicago, to becoming an international touring ensemble whose concerts most often occurred on the road in North America or Europe.  During its entire existence, however, the group has always focused on creating new material through consistent rehearsal and performance.  The shifts in the aesthetics of the band caused by this work are well documented

through the studio and live recordings available on Atavistic records.

This is the first occasion, however, where the quintet has been represented in the way it actually played - night after night.  In most cases, the only people who really experience the ongoing process and creativity of a working improvised music ensemble are its members.  At best, most listeners hear but one concert on a tour because the group will likely move onto another city or town the next day.  One of my personal goals is to bring the music to clubs and smaller venues on a regular basis, for a series of concerts during several nights at the same location.  The Vandermark 5 residency in Krakow at Alchemia is proof that the idea can work - we played to packed houses every single night, and the energy coming to and from the stage on those evenings is something I will never forget.

When Marek originally proposed the idea of recording these concerts the intention was not to release everything as a box set, something that would have clearly been considered economically insane, but to select the strongest performances for use as  a double cd co-production with Atavistic. After the series ended, however, Marek fought for the idea to release all of the material in this production, and I am thankful for it. There are a few problematic moments on these recordings: such as the  end of "Gyllene" from the third night, a screw on my baritone came loose during the final theme which made it impossible for me to play; and some sections of the new pieces are faulty, we were literally learning as we went along.  (Note: "Camera", "That Was Now", and "Pieces Of The Past", were further developed and refined during work in Chicago and on the road in North America with the Scandinavian group, Atomic, during June and July of  2004.  They are included in the Vandermark 5's upcoming double cd on Atavistic, "The Color Of Memory").  These awkward moments don't make me proud, but Marek's argument for including everything as it happened is a sound one - the music on these cds represents who we were and how we really played on those 5 nights in March, right or wrong.  I feel very fortunate to have a document of these concerts, and to have been able to work with Jeb, Tim, Kent, and Dave for such a long and creative time.  Here's to the memory of those nights, what they represent, and to those countless glasses of buffalo grass vodka...

Ken Vandermark, Chicago, February 1, 2005.

http://www.kenvandermark.com/

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Mine is on the way.

Excellent communication with the people running the website.

They're throwing in a 2 CD compilation of Polish jazz artists as a free bonus.

They didn't tell me that last week... :unsure:

I gather this is some sort of "promo".

Go to http://www.polishjazz.com/2005

Great! Thanks for the info.

I've dropped them a lime - let's see if they deliver lemons.

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Just an update for anyone who's ordered the set.

Yes, it is true that if you order the set that you should be getting

the double-dip comp of PolskaJazz.

Also, home office was surprised that I hadn't received mine yet,

'cause it was supposedly sent on the 5th.

They mentioned that they've had many requests, so it is possible that

you may not see your set as soon as you think.

Multiply your expected time by 2 and, probably, then, contact them.

Na druga i na zewnatrz!

---

Now playing: Pan Sonic - Säteily/Radiation

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Since I don't know where the islet of Langerhans is located (geographically, not anatomically), I don't know what the method of shipment is to you.

:lol::lol::lol:

Well, I heard from PJN again.

They can't seem to find a record of my shipment,

so in the midst of the barnyard shuffle scuffle,

they appear to have managed to not ship it,

so they are promising Priority to me tomorrow.

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