clifford_thornton Posted January 6, 2015 Report Share Posted January 6, 2015 Along parallel lines, Ayler's complete "First Recordings" sessions (originally titled "Something New!") — that is, all eight tracks — can be purchased as a download from Amoeba Records. (They do sell downloads!) For U.S. buyers, this is the only place, to my knowledge, where a legal download can be purchased. Canadian and European buyers appear to have quite a few more options. The Japanese DIW compact disc sells for medium-high (?) prices when available on eBay. Tracks from "First Recordings" play a prominent role in the "soundtrack" to the Kasper Collin documentary. I used to have a lower opinion of these recordings until recently. While the supporting ensembles (well, just drums and the whistler in some instances) aren't Gary Peacock and Sunny Murray, Ayler's playing is so committed that I finally woke up and realized how raw and passion-filled these early recordings are. Amoeba's download store is NOT legal. They just haven't been sued yet. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Late Posted January 6, 2015 Report Share Posted January 6, 2015 Amoeba's download store is NOT legal. They just haven't been sued yet. Weird, didn't know that. Well, now I am in violation of the law. And the law is the law, so — off to The Pointless Forest. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
clifford_thornton Posted January 6, 2015 Report Share Posted January 6, 2015 Let me clarify: they are uploading/ripping tons of out of print music that they have in their store and selling it online, without the artists' or labels' knowledge. Of course, they're too lazy to look up who actually owns this stuff and are banking on the artists being obscure enough that most labels won't care. They have Jeanne Lee's Conspiracy up there (which was privately pressed in the 70s) and I can tell you that her estate has put the kibosh on several legitimate attempts to reissue it. More than likely DIW or the Ayler estate have no idea that these recordings are up there for download and I have a hard time imagining this escrow bullshit would appease many lawyers. Thankfully, most musicians are too poor to hire legal counsel to sue Amoeba... http://www.spin.com/articles/amoeba-music-vinyl-vault-download/ Many of the selections in Vinyl Vaults are so obscure that finding the whereabouts of each artist to compensate them for the downloads would likely result in Amoeba bankrupting themselves, so the chain came up with another solution: The money from all the Vault downloads go into an escrow, and if the artist or their family discovered their music was on Amoeba.com, they could either demand the chain pull the music down or work out a deal to continue selling the music, to mutually benefit all parties involved. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mjzee Posted January 7, 2015 Report Share Posted January 7, 2015 I see that they have Clare Fischer's One To Get Ready, Four To Go on Revelation available for download. Isn't that Jonathan Horwich's label? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
clifford_thornton Posted January 7, 2015 Report Share Posted January 7, 2015 Yep. Hope their escrow has at least a few hundred bucks in it to license those titles! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Chuck Nessa Posted January 7, 2015 Report Share Posted January 7, 2015 What happened to John William Hardy's ownership? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
clifford_thornton Posted January 7, 2015 Report Share Posted January 7, 2015 I don't know - assume his estate has part ownership, right? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
.:.impossible Posted January 7, 2015 Report Share Posted January 7, 2015 Amoeba's download store is NOT legal. They just haven't been sued yet. Weird, didn't know that. Well, now I am in violation of the law. And the law is the law, so off to The Pointless Forest. I love Harry. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
bertrand Posted January 19, 2015 Author Report Share Posted January 19, 2015 I actually had the following dream a couple of days ago: I went to the ESP office in NYC to get 'the new Ayler record'. The office staff consisted of four gorgeous twenty-something women who liked to work in the buff. No sign of Stollman. Of course I woke up right after Bertrand. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Caravan Posted January 19, 2015 Report Share Posted January 19, 2015 I actually had the following dream a couple of days ago: I went to the ESP office in NYC to get 'the new Ayler record'. The office staff consisted of four gorgeous twenty-something women who liked to work in the buff. No sign of Stollman. Of course I woke up right after Bertrand. Al Ayler would have said that it definitely was a sign (of something). Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Late Posted January 20, 2015 Report Share Posted January 20, 2015 The office staff consisted of four [gorgeous] twenty-something women ... Somebody just finished watching Girls, Season 3 on Netflix ... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
bertrand Posted January 21, 2015 Author Report Share Posted January 21, 2015 Is this a recent Girls plot twist? Yikes - Dunham will look for any excuse to get nekkid. Bertrand. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
erwbol Posted May 25, 2015 Report Share Posted May 25, 2015 www.espdisk.com is down. Has the label gone under? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
king ubu Posted May 25, 2015 Report Share Posted May 25, 2015 Don't think so, there was a newsletter announcing some upcoming releases just a few days ago. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
erwbol Posted May 25, 2015 Report Share Posted May 25, 2015 Oh, that's good news. Some of their titles seem to be low in stock or unavailable through the usual amazon third party sellers at this point in time. I was initially wondering when that corrected pressing of the 50th Anniversary Spiritual Unity will become available (again). Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
king ubu Posted May 26, 2015 Report Share Posted May 26, 2015 (edited) Here's the mail (May 2015 Newsletter, sent out May 12):Spring New ReleasesLive at Okuden by The Uppercut: Matthew Shipp Mat Walerian Duo (ESP5007)ESP-Disk' is thrilled to share with you all a new recording that extends the label's already considerable free-jazz legacy: Live at Okuden by The Uppercut: Matthew Shipp Mat Walerian Duo. Mr. Shipp is the most exciting pianist of his generation. Mr. Walerian is a Polish saxophonist/clarinetist flutist of extraordinary talent who deserves a world-wide audience. Live at Okuden documents their profoundly beautiful and imaginative performance on May 15, 2012.Shipp hardly needs an introduction at this point thanks to a career of over a quarter century, including not only many acclaimed albums under his own name but also a long and prominent tenure in the David S. Ware Quartet and a vast array of collaborations with the likes of Spring Heel Jack, Ivo Perelman, Sabir Mateen, Darius Jones, Joe Morris, Jemeel Moondoc, and more.Walerian is the younger of the two, so many jazz fans are not as familiar with his work as they are with Shipp's, but one listen to this album should convince everyone of the imaginative depth of his musical vision and the likelihood that he will soon be counted among the avant-jazz scene's international stars. Largely self-taught and deeply immersed in Eastern philosophy, his approach to improvisation is unique and compelling. Press Quotes:"[Walerian] is one of the most talented young jazz musicians on the Polish scene, if not THE most talented." – Maciej Lewenstein, Polish Jazz Recordings and Beyond "Matthew Shipp has become an elder statesman in the jazz world. How that happened can be boiled down to two simple elements. One: he has created a unique sound and language for improvised music and two: Shipp has become a doyen of cutting edge music making and opinion." – Mark Corroto, All About Jazzhttp://espdisk.com/official/catalog/5007.htmlRepressed and Limited Edition of The Heliocentric Worlds of Sun Ra (ESP1014) (ESP1017)It was 50 years ago, on April 20, 1965, that Sun Ra and His Solar Arkestra squeezed into Richard Alderson's little studio to record their first ESP-Disk' album, The Heliocentric Worlds of Sun Ra. Later that year they returned to record a second volume. To honor this anniversary, ESP has re-pressed both LPs in 1000-copy limited editions on Esperanto-green, 180-gram vinyl. These astonishing sessions went light years beyond "free jazz" improvisation to create music of deeply-felt, explosive and gentle gestures made from sound itself without reference to previous notions of melody or harmony. This set of tracks found Sun Ra breaking ground by using synthesizers and having the Arkestra musicians double on percussion. Volume 1, with an 11-member band, consists of seven relatively short tracks (none over eight minutes); recorded with an octet, Volume 2, in contrast, is much freer and features the side-long "The Sun Myth" and the 15-minute "Cosmic Chaos."In tandem they rank at #9 on Spin's "The Top 100 Alternative Albums of the 1960s" list.http://espdisk.com/official/catalog/1014.htmlhttp://espdisk.com/official/catalog/1017.html Two John D. Thomas Albums Released (ESP5005) (ESP5006) At age 19, guitarist John D. Thomas was enlisted as a sideman by both Jimmy McGriff and Joe Henderson for recordings and concerts. Later he worked with more jazz greats, including the AACM Big Band, Stanton Davis, Carter Jefferson, Andrew Cyrille, Kenny Drew, John Lewis, and Chet Baker. ESP-Disk' recently issued two albums led by Mr. Thomas. ESP5006 issues for the first time on CD and download his 1985 fusion album Serious Business, while ESP5005 is the first issue in any format of Headwall by his more straight-ahead jazz group Extremely Serious Business. "[Thomas has] a unique solo style. John's latest offering gives a superb example of why, in my opinion, he is one of the all-time great jazz guitarists." – saxophonist Charles Tolliver http://espdisk.com/official/catalog/5005.htmlhttp://espdisk.com/official/catalog/5006.html Edited May 26, 2015 by king ubu Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jazzbo Posted May 26, 2015 Report Share Posted May 26, 2015 Perhaps the website was down for maintenance or updating. It seems available now. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
erwbol Posted May 26, 2015 Report Share Posted May 26, 2015 (edited) Yes, it's back up. Still, strange about the low availability of certain titles. The Bud Powell Birdland 1953, for example, is no longer available through amazon.com link. In Europe prices are very high for the still available copies. And the Spiritual Unity 50th Anniversary disc is nowhere to be found outside the webstore on espdisk.com ($12.95 shipping to EU). Edited May 26, 2015 by erwbol Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jazzbo Posted May 26, 2015 Report Share Posted May 26, 2015 Maybe they're following a sensible model regarding copies printed and stored. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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