Funny Rat

[David Ayers]

As far as we can tell there is nothing new on this Machine Gun reissue? And the existing (and in print?) disk is already Brotzmann's best seller (according to amazon)? I don't get it.

[Nate Dorward]

Thought people might find this worthwhile:

http://youtube.com/watch?v=m8PIuKXCz88

The opening voice is Pauline Oliveros; background music by Jim McAuley; after that sequence there's an unedited solo bass performance by Okkyung Lee, who's a pretty fine exponent of the scorched-earth school of bass improv. This is material from a forthcoming documentary on free improvisation by Steve Elkins.

Who is Steve Elkins? I'd be interested in screening this at Filmforum as part of a series of such films.

I don't know much about Elkins aside from the fact that he's making the film & also that he plays in a rock band. The film is still unfinished, but I gather it's getting closer....... Here's his gallery of stills from the footage he's put together:

http://www.elkins.smugmug.com/gallery/599056#25217677

There's a contact email address on the homepage if you want to drop him a line.

[king ubu]

My "Rara Avis" and "Root of the Problem" hatOLOGY discs have already arrived. Gave the Clusone a spin and love it as much as I did last time (had it on CDR, copied from a library that had a copy).

About the Potlatch sale, check out this post @ my blog with short reviews and look for the next post in an hour or so with some samples from these 8 discs! (crappy 128 kbs samples - I want people to buy the actual discs!)

some samples up here, now: link - note that they're encoded at a crappy 128 are indeed just tasters that ought to bring some interest in the real thing! Support the artists as well as Jacques and his label by buying the actual product!

[AndrewHill]

My "Rara Avis" and "Root of the Problem" hatOLOGY discs have already arrived. Gave the Clusone a spin and love it as much as I did last time (had it on CDR, copied from a library that had a copy).

About the Potlatch sale, check out this post @ my blog with short reviews and look for the next post in an hour or so with some samples from these 8 discs! (crappy 128 kbs samples - I want people to buy the actual discs!)

Sorry I'm a day late and a dollar short to comb through 500 pages of this Hysterical Mouse thread, but which Clusone 3 disk did you pick up? I have Soft Light and Sweet Music, and like that one quite a bit. I should add that I'm not familiar with the other Clusone titles-is it the Rara Avis one?

Edited June 7, 2007 by Holy Ghost

[king ubu]

My "Rara Avis" and "Root of the Problem" hatOLOGY discs have already arrived. Gave the Clusone a spin and love it as much as I did last time (had it on CDR, copied from a library that had a copy).

About the Potlatch sale, check out this post @ my blog with short reviews and look for the next post in an hour or so with some samples from these 8 discs! (crappy 128 kbs samples - I want people to buy the actual discs!)

Sorry I'm a day late and a dollar short to comb through 500 pages of this Hysterical Mouse thread, but which Clusone 3 disk did you pick up? I have Soft Light and Sweet Music, and like that one quite a bit. I should add that I'm not familiar with the other Clusone titles-is it the Rara Avis one?

Yup, "Rara Avis" (title mentioned in the post you quoted, but I didn't bring together titles and artists...). The other one, "An Hour With" is still around, too, but "Rara Avis" had been listed as OOP for years and now suddenly it isn't - probably they found another box of it somewhere... I only with the first McPhee solo ("As Serious as Your Life", hatO 514) would turn up again, too! Also Shipp's "Multiplicator Table" I missed, but at least I got a CDR of it...

I also miss Gregorio's "Ellipsis" and Mat Maneri's "Acceptance" but I'm less sure I need these.

[Kalo]

Also--Wolter Wierbos continues to kick ass.

Indeed!

Hear, hear! Wierbos kicked major ass when I saw them in Boston last year!

[jon abbey]

wow, looks like Dormant Rat these days...

probably anyone interested reading this already knows, but just in case, I've got an ErstDist clearance sale going on, details here:

http://ihatemusic.noquam.com/viewtopic.php...57&start=20

thanks for taking a look!

[David Ayers]

If anyone in the UK cares... Funny Rat is on sale for £8.25 from Sound 323 (phone or email only - it's in their 'sale' email').

Since posting this message quite a few people have mailed me asking what this one looks like:

Since posting this image I have recieved many requests for personnel details:

Peter Brotzmann: tarogato, bass clarinet, tenor sax

Shoji Hano: drums, percussion

Further requests have been for label information (Improvised Music from Japan) serial number (IMJ-512) country of origin (Japan) date of recording (October 10, 1991) format (card sleeve) and track listing [Funny Rat 1 (24:42) Snake and Sheep (11:16) We All Like Mountain Rabbit (18:12) Funny Rat 3 (5:47) Funny Rat 2 (12:21)]. I have also been asked what it sounds like and whether it is any good.

[randyhersom]

Any comments on John Shiurba - 5x5 1.2=A? Curious about anything with Anthony Braxton as a sideman.

[David Ayers]

Recently given this one a couple of listens.

Emanem 4129

Keith (guitar) is Canadian, a former rocker, and the new boy on the block. Oswald, who plays alto sax here, and also Candian, is known for decades of 'sampling' work (he calls it Pluderphonics and rejects thes term 'sample' - in any case its all sax here). Roger Turner (Dr, perc) is British and has cropped up with the likes of Coxhill, Bailey and Butcher over the years.

First listen I thought there wasn't much going on, but next time around I found a lot of variety within the group's temporary 'language'. They had played four gigs before going into the studio and played another couple afterward. This might be a good sort of arc for a temporary improv agglomeration.

Anyone else heard this or know more about these musicians?

[disaac]

My "Rara Avis" and "Root of the Problem" hatOLOGY discs have already arrived. Gave the Clusone a spin and love it as much as I did last time (had it on CDR, copied from a library that had a copy).

About the Potlatch sale, check out this post @ my blog with short reviews and look for the next post in an hour or so with some samples from these 8 discs! (crappy 128 kbs samples - I want people to buy the actual discs!)

Sorry I'm a day late and a dollar short to comb through 500 pages of this Hysterical Mouse thread, but which Clusone 3 disk did you pick up? I have Soft Light and Sweet Music, and like that one quite a bit. I should add that I'm not familiar with the other Clusone titles-is it the Rara Avis one?

Yup, "Rara Avis" (title mentioned in the post you quoted, but I didn't bring together titles and artists...). The other one, "An Hour With" is still around, too, but "Rara Avis" had been listed as OOP for years and now suddenly it isn't - probably they found another box of it somewhere... I only with the first McPhee solo ("As Serious as Your Life", hatO 514) would turn up again, too! Also Shipp's "Multiplicator Table" I missed, but at least I got a CDR of it...

I also miss Gregorio's "Ellipsis" and Mat Maneri's "Acceptance" but I'm less sure I need these.

I can hook you up with a bonafide Multiplication Table -- PM me when you have a moment.

Dan

[David Ayers]

Another attempt to raise the rat's profile.

Anyone else heard William Parker's 'For Percy Heath' on Victo? It is a document of his 2005 Victoriaville appearance with a big group as follows:

Sabir Mateen : saxophone ténor, clarinette alto

Darryl Foster : saxophones ténor et soprano

Rob Brown : saxophone alto

Charles Waters : saxophone alto, clarinette

Dave Sewelson : saxophone baryton

Roy Campbell : trompette

Matt Lavelle : trompette

Lewis Barnes : trompette

Steve Swell : trombone

Alex Lodico : trombone

Masahiko Kono : trombone

Dave Hofstra : tuba

Andrew Barker : batterie

William Parker : contrebasse, composition, direction

It got slated a bit for being chaotic, but I thought it was rather interesting as a way of doing big band improv. Not as hard to follow as some made out, mainly riffs and solos, but still probably quite a challenge to organise and hard to work out how anyone knows when to come in. Andrew Barker does a pretty good job of holding the whole thing together.

So worth a few listens, I'd say, even if it doesn't necessarily grab you and the sonics are only so-so.

[Chalupa]

http://www.alashensemble.com/media_Fifield_audio.htm

[Aggie87]

I just recently received Olaf Ton's self-titled disc in a trade with Gokhan. This is a fun listen! This band is from Berlin, and apparently has just 2 releases. Piano-less quintet (trumpet, sax/clarinet, trombone, bass, & drums). Anybody else like this?

[Chalupa]

Another note (as the regulars on this section would probably appreciate it): who here has heard/picked up the reissue of Gwigwi Mrwebi's Mbaqanga Songs? It's post-Blue Notes, pre-BoB material (with early versions of some BoB tunes), but the points of reference here are a little oblique... it might fit in with some of Masakela's work (the post-Jazz Epistle scene), as it is certainly along the lines of afro-pop--but the energy level here is a lot closer to Pukwana's Spear albums. It's a beautiful set that always sits just this side of tipping out...

I *finally* got this one yesterday from Honest Jon's. I've only played it 3 times but I'm loving it. Thanks for the recommendation.

[Nate Dorward]

I just recently received Olaf Ton's self-titled disc in a trade with Gokhan. This is a fun listen! This band is from Berlin, and apparently has just 2 releases. Piano-less quintet (trumpet, sax/clarinet, trombone, bass, & drums). Anybody else like this?

Missed this post before: yes, they're quite good; the first album's OK but the one on 2nd floor is much stronger, I think. I'm not sure that any of the horns are knockout players but they're fine, & the rhythm section is one of the best young bass + drum teams around. Good tunes, too.

[Alexander Hawkins]

Another note (as the regulars on this section would probably appreciate it): who here has heard/picked up the reissue of Gwigwi Mrwebi's Mbaqanga Songs? It's post-Blue Notes, pre-BoB material (with early versions of some BoB tunes), but the points of reference here are a little oblique... it might fit in with some of Masakela's work (the post-Jazz Epistle scene), as it is certainly along the lines of afro-pop--but the energy level here is a lot closer to Pukwana's Spear albums. It's a beautiful set that always sits just this side of tipping out...

I *finally* got this one yesterday from Honest Jon's. I've only played it 3 times but I'm loving it. Thanks for the recommendation.

Yeah - this is a nice one! Lots of great Dudu. And some fine Caribbean drumming!

[Matthew]

For the past couple of months I've been listening to Andrea Centazzo / Mitteleuropa Orchestra: The Complete Recordings, and it is a very interesting listen. Counter to, for want of a better term I would call, "The New York School of Large Groups," the Mitteleuropa Orchestra has a much more composed feel to it, and I'm becoming convinced that Andrea Centazzo is very much an underrated musician/composer in todays music world. There are such artists as Franz Koglmann, Theo Jorgensmann, Gino Commisso, and a host of others. If you like large group music, that has a free jazz/composed feel to them, this box set is worth checking out. One word of warning: It is very poorly packaged, the cds come in a six-pack dvd case, and the liners look like the secretary went to the back room copier and then put them in the case. When it came to my home, the interior of the box was all broken up, so I had to buy a new, sturdier box for the cds. Given that though, I really enjoy the music.

Edited September 21, 2007 by Matthew

[ep1str0phy]

Another note (as the regulars on this section would probably appreciate it): who here has heard/picked up the reissue of Gwigwi Mrwebi's Mbaqanga Songs? It's post-Blue Notes, pre-BoB material (with early versions of some BoB tunes), but the points of reference here are a little oblique... it might fit in with some of Masakela's work (the post-Jazz Epistle scene), as it is certainly along the lines of afro-pop--but the energy level here is a lot closer to Pukwana's Spear albums. It's a beautiful set that always sits just this side of tipping out...

I *finally* got this one yesterday from Honest Jon's. I've only played it 3 times but I'm loving it. Thanks for the recommendation.

Yeah - this is a nice one! Lots of great Dudu. And some fine Caribbean drumming!

I'm glad y'all dig this one, because it's about as far on the periphery of Funny Rat territory as any Funny Rat-interest album could be. It's interesting to consider just how advanced some of the folks on this album were at that time (Dudu, Chris McGregor, Ronnie Beer), recording what is for all intents and purposes a specialty pop album. Having listened to the Brotherhood, the Blue Notes, and Dudu and Chris's leader work, Mbaqanga Songs is so inside it's outside ( :rsly: ).

[clifford_thornton]

Who reissued the Gwigwi?

[ep1str0phy]

Who reissued the Gwigwi?

Honest Jons Records. Indie joint, but they managed Steve Beresford for the liners.

[clifford_thornton]

Cool. Preferable to a DMG bootleg CD-R, which I almost pulled the trigger on just to hear the damn thing.

[ep1str0phy]

Goddamnit, DMG frustrates me to no end. If you ever walk into the shop, it's nigh-impossible to figure out what is and what isn't a legitimate issue--BUT it's one of the most convenient spots (mail order or otherwise) for many legitimate issues. I thought for a while that the blog craze would cut into the whole bootlegging bit, but DMG just keeps trucking along (outlasting some of the more active elements on the blogosphere, apparently).

-A strange and tangentially associated issue: Chris McGregor pops up on Nick Drake's Bryter Layter--well-recorded and distinctive as ever, but all the Brotherhood and solo recordings in the world making you think Chris could do a lot more than unload fills on a track that might have been better off sans frills.

[clifford_thornton]

Sorry, but I can't fucking STAND Nick Drake, McGregor or no McGregor.

Bootlegging has been going on forever, and it's unlikely to ever change. Hell, I bought the Huseyin Ertunc bootleg when it was out because there was NO WAY I'd ever even hear the damn thing...

[Matthew]

I just want to say how much I love this cd by Perry Robinson, Nobu Stowe, and Andrea Centazzo, The Soul in the Mist, for me, this is the best jazz release of the year. Robinson is very creative in his clarinet playing, and it's nice to hear him since his is under recorded for so good a player. Nobu Stowe piano playing is unique and understated, nice touches, kind of a minimalistic style, but very effective. Centazzo wrote all the music played and adds his percussion style to move things along. It's just beautiful, thoughtful music, that is worth hearing.