Late Posted November 17, 2003 Report Posted November 17, 2003 (edited) Just got done listening to Wee Sneezawee. Mmm-hmm. I'm in for it now. What's a credit card to do? This box will eventually end up in my (mail)box. A few more comments on the sound, in addition to Mr. Taylor's notes? Would you say that this is a it's-the-music-dummy-not-the-sound box, or rather a actually-the-sound's-not-so-bad box? Edited November 17, 2003 by Late Quote
Late Posted November 17, 2003 Report Posted November 17, 2003 Somewhat related question: Did this one ever come out on disc? (I have a feeling it didn't.) I have the one track "Premonitions" from the BYG box, and would like to hear the whole set! Quote
Guest Chaney Posted November 18, 2003 Report Posted November 18, 2003 Hey Late, Here’s a page from the liners entitled WARTS AND ALL: All of the music in this collection was taped in performance, and is subject to the usual fluctuations and happenstances of live recordings. Most of the concerts were preserved with simple documentation as the primary motive. Though much effort has succeeded in optimizing sound from the best possible sources, even the recording work of superior technicians here must be heard with some blemishes. The beginning of the first and last pieces on the reel that held the Rivbea Quartet concert were truncated. So the first selection, “Gossip”, has been moved into the second position on Disc1; the incomplete “Round Midnight” appears in sequence as played. A few seconds are missing due to a change of reels in the recording of Disc. 2, tracks 1 and 2. The music on Discs 3 and 5 was recorded to cassette and interrupted in the same way, hence subtle omissions from Track 5 (Disc 3) and the absence of a conclusion to the tufts “Gossip”. The solo concert was recorded on Soundscapes top-shelf equipment. Unfortunately, the pristine original tape was destroyed in a random accident several years afterwards, and the only surviving copy, an imperfect cassette, had to be used for the audio here. “Clutter” is heard in monophonic sound, and the rest is in stereo. On Disc 4, in addition to significant challenges of stereo balance and proportion, an electromagnetic interference (from a 2-way radio) is audible during Murphy’s drum solo in “Good News Blues”. The Tufts concert had other issues. Because Lyons frequently positioned himself far away from microphones on stage, his projection struggles against coloration from the intervening distance and feedback between monitors and microphones. Trying to achieve the clearest sound for the saxophone – combined again with microphone placement – has altered the timbre and natural sound of the bassoon. Disc 5 thankfully uses the original concert tape; the first phrase of “After You Left” is missing here, as on every known copy of the music. As is usually the case, what you'll hear will be system dependent. CD5, on my revealing system, offers the greatest sonic challenges. Before I posted this though, I though I'd have another listen. As my California Audio Labs CD player is in the shop, I had a listen with a SONY portable CD player - the D-555. Through the SONY, CD5 is quite acceptable. (Even using the CAL, I'll not gripe.) Re "Other Afternoons": I don't believe that one ever made it to CD. What's a credit card to do indeed. Quote
Michael Fitzgerald Posted November 18, 2003 Report Posted November 18, 2003 Ben Young will be presenting five hours of Jimmy Lyons not this Sunday but the following one (11/30/03) from 2-7 PM EST on WKCR-FM in NYC (or online at wkcr.org). Mike Quote
Guest Chaney Posted November 18, 2003 Report Posted November 18, 2003 Terrific news! Thanks Mike! Quote
brownie Posted November 18, 2003 Report Posted November 18, 2003 Somewhat related question: Did this one ever come out on disc? (I have a feeling it didn't.) I have the one track "Premonitions" from the BYG box, and would like to hear the whole set! Yes, it was released at the time it was recorded in 1969. It's one of my favorite albums since. Know it's been reissued and should be available. Quote
J.A.W. Posted November 18, 2003 Report Posted November 18, 2003 (edited) Somewhat related question: Did this one ever come out on disc? (I have a feeling it didn't.) I have the one track "Premonitions" from the BYG box, and would like to hear the whole set! Yes, it was released at the time it was recorded in 1969. It's one of my favorite albums since. Know it's been reissued and should be available. Are you saying this has been reissued on CD? It's available on LP, but I've never seen it on CD anywhere. Edited November 18, 2003 by J.A.W. Quote
brownie Posted November 18, 2003 Report Posted November 18, 2003 Meant it was reissued as LP. Disc is vinyl to me. I still live in that age Quote
king ubu Posted November 18, 2003 Report Posted November 18, 2003 I could pick it up as an Affinity LP. Anyone knows how that edition sounds? If it's not too bad (I'm no audiophile), I might go for it! ubu Quote
blue lake Posted November 27, 2003 Report Posted November 27, 2003 Where did these reviewers get the song titles for the new Jimmy Lyons Box set? Quote
Guest Chaney Posted November 27, 2003 Report Posted November 27, 2003 Where did these reviewers get the song titles for the new Jimmy Lyons Box set? Not quite understanding your question, I asked Jan Strom of Ayler Records for an assist and received this reply: Most of the titles are made by Jimmy Lyons who composed all except the Monk and the Borca pieces. The totally improvised tunes were given titles by Karen Borca just for this release. -- Jan Strom Quote
Guest Chaney Posted November 30, 2003 Report Posted November 30, 2003 Ben Young will be presenting five hours of Jimmy Lyons not this Sunday but the following one (11/30/03) from 2-7 PM EST on WKCR-FM in NYC (or online at wkcr.org). Mike UP WKCR Quote
ghost of miles Posted December 2, 2003 Report Posted December 2, 2003 Awesome review of the box by Joe Milazzo here. Just found a vinyl copy of OTHER AFTERNOONS at the station the other day--might see if I can get our engineer to transfer it to CD-R. Quote
Matthew Posted April 5, 2004 Report Posted April 5, 2004 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. Quote
brownie Posted June 9, 2004 Report Posted June 9, 2004 The Village Voice has a review of the box in their edition just out today http://www.villagevoice.com/issues/0423/hull.php Alto saxist shows what he brought to Cecil's daunting party Pushin' Hard by Tom Hull June 7th, 2004 7:15 PM Approach his box set from the inside out. (photo: Guy Kopelwicz) Cecil Taylor's pianistics are so spectacular, and so daunting, that it's surprising he ever spent much time in small groups with horns. Indeed, since the late '80s, he hasn't. But from 1961 to 1985 Taylor's groups featured alto saxophonist Jimmy Lyons, often with a trumpet or tenor saxophonist in addition. After Lyons fell ill and died in 1986 at age 54, Taylor tried replacing him, but soon backed off to a trio, solos, and one-shots with Europe's top avant-gardists. Even though Lyons recorded a handful of albums under his own name, the few people who know of him know him through Taylor. The relationship between the two has been compared to Hodges and Ellington, or Desmond and Brubeck, but it is inevitably more difficult to untangle. Anyone who has wondered what Lyons brought to the party will be helped out immensely by The Box Set, a small, unfancy package crammed with five previously unreleased discs of solo and small-group Lyons, doubling what was heretofore available, and a fact-packed 60-page booklet. Jan Ström, whose devotion to Lyons previously resulted in a 120-page sessionography, has strategically selected the material to cover a broad range of dates and groups, each in enough detail to stand on its own. The logical way to approach the box is from the middle out. Start with the 11-minute interview that fills out disc four, to get an introduction to the man, particularly his propensity for seeing composition and improvisation as the same thing. Then go to disc three for his solo concert: sounds a lot like practice, as he strings together breath-length thoughts, twisting and turning around each other, like a painter laying out his palette. The pace is methodical, easy to follow, but on disc two he adds bass and drums and gets his back up. He starts with a 25-minute run, structurally like his solo exercise, but blisteringly fast. After he lets the bassist play a little, he finishes furiously, then does it all again. Lyons is sometimes characterized as the guy who brought Charlie Parker into the avant-garde. But this disc shows that the essential lesson Lyons took from Parker was to keep pushing harder and faster. The fourth disc features another trio, but with bassoonist Karen Borca replacing the bassist, giving him two lead instruments plus drums. Nearly as fast, the contrast in tones and the trading of lines are dazzling. The fifth disc also features Borca, but the interaction is a bit less intense, perhaps because added bassist William Parker stands out, or perhaps because in 1985 time was running out for Lyons. After all, the freshest, most pleasurable disc is the first one, recorded in 1972, with Raphe Malik's bright trumpet sparring with Lyons. One thing you notice in all three of these discs is that Lyons often feeds the others his best lines. Malik and Borca have never sounded so confident as in his company. And while it would be a stretch to say the same about Taylor, Lyons's selflessness may have been the secret of the Cecil Taylor Unit's success. Without naming anyone, Taylor once said, "It's rare to find musicians who are loyal and protect you and give you space to be yourself. You learn to value them highly and to give them the same space they give you." The Box Set was specially designed for Cecil Taylor fans who care about that space. The photo that goes with the article is one of a series of images I took when Jimmy Lyons played with the Cecil Taylor Unit at the Maeght Foundation in Saint-Paul de Vence in July 1969. The Village Voice managed to mispell my name Quote
MartyJazz Posted June 9, 2004 Report Posted June 9, 2004 ....... The Village Voice managed to mispell my name Hey, it can happen. You managed to misspell "misspell" Quote
brownie Posted June 9, 2004 Report Posted June 9, 2004 Hey, it can happen. You managed to misspell "misspell" My misstake Did a google search and found more than 6,000 entries for mispell. So I'm in a crowd Quote
Guest Chaney Posted June 10, 2004 Report Posted June 10, 2004 Thanks for posting that review, Brownie. Nice of the Voice to finally get around to reviewing this set. Quote
Matthew Posted October 6, 2004 Report Posted October 6, 2004 Dare I bring this up again from the land of lost threads? Well, of course I will. This Lyons is a major artist, and with each listen of "The Box Set" my adimration grows and grows. There's a great humility to Lyons' playing; my sense is that for Lyons, the music was truly the most important thing, not himself, not wowing people with his music, but it was just Lyons and his music, trying to communcate. The solo work on disk three is almost transparent in the way he lays everything out, a kind of braverary to it. This man was a musician, pure and simple, and should not be forgotten. Quote
JSngry Posted October 6, 2004 Report Posted October 6, 2004 I just wish he hadn't have smoked so much. He'd probably still be alive. But maybe not. You never know, really. Ramsey Ameen told stories of countless marathon 8+ hour rehearsals w/Cecil's group where Jimmy would literally go through several packs, chain smoking (Camels, IIRC) all the way. Hey, I'm a smoker myself, but....wow. That's not good. But yeah, Mr. Lyons was definitely the real deal. More than that need not be said! Quote
brownie Posted August 25, 2006 Report Posted August 25, 2006 Up! For anyone who still unhas the Jimmy Lyons box, Ayler Records have a special offer that ends on September 30. Grab this while you can! http://www.ayler.com/ Quote
clifford_thornton Posted August 25, 2006 Report Posted August 25, 2006 I second brownie's recommendation. Great set! Now, if Hat Hut would just do a nice and proper reissue of their Lyons titles... Btw: great word "unhas," first I've heard of it but concur with its sentiment. Quote
brownie Posted August 25, 2006 Report Posted August 25, 2006 Btw: great word "unhas," first I've heard of it but concur with its sentiment. 'Unhas' was a widely used word in the pre-internet journalistic world when newspeople sent their stories by telegraphic lines and every word counted! Obviously spent too much time in that world Quote
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