Larry Kart Posted September 15, 2015 Report Share Posted September 15, 2015 (edited) Some may not be familiar with them, so let me mention these two Sal Mosca solo albums (one recently issued, rec. in 1991 at a concert at the Bimhuis): http://www.amazon.com/Talk-Town-Sal-Mosca/dp/B00VNVXGNI/ref=sr_1_1?s=music&ie=UTF8&qid=1442327995&sr=1-1&keywords=sal+mosca the other recorded at a concert in 1979: http://www.amazon.com/Sal-Mosca---pianist/dp/B000056VIO/ref=sr_1_2?s=music&ie=UTF8&qid=1442328134&sr=1-2&keywords=sal+mosca The 2-CD Bimhaus set, beautifully recorded, is not quite what one expects (or I expected) from Mosca — by this point he’s rather Teddy Wilson-like, even Tatum-esque at times, little sense of a Tristano connection — but the basically meditative tone is definitely Mosca-esque. In any case, I can think of nothing else quite like it. The 1979 album, more like earlier Mosca, with more Tristano echoes, and recorded well enough, is more to my taste at this point, but the Bimhaus set is quite a chapter in Mosca's evolution. Edited September 16, 2015 by Larry Kart Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
king ubu Posted September 15, 2015 Report Share Posted September 15, 2015 Only know "A Concert" (the 1979 one - thanks again, brownie ) - it's very good indeed ... you have piqued my insterest for that Bimhuis set! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
brownie Posted September 15, 2015 Report Share Posted September 15, 2015 That Bimhuis double CD is a Masterpiece!?? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
AllenLowe Posted September 15, 2015 Report Share Posted September 15, 2015 just listening - was it Spirits? with Konitz. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Larry Kart Posted September 15, 2015 Author Report Share Posted September 15, 2015 (edited) Was what "Spirits" with Konitz?"Spirits" was a circa 1970 small group album on Milestone, which I reviewed enthusiastically in Down Beat when it came out. BTW, Dan Morgenstern, my boss at DB, saved me from getting egg all over my face in that review. I'd referred to the piece "Hugo's Head" as a blues. Bluesy though the performance was IIRC, as its title suggests, the piece is based on "You Go To My Head." Eeesh. FWIW, that review led the teenaged Bill Kirchner back in Youngstown, O., to buy "Spirits" and then resolve that one day he would go to NYC and study with Lee, which he did -- Bill then writing his first recorded arrangements for Lee's Octet. I only found about this from Bill years later. Edited September 15, 2015 by Larry Kart Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mjzee Posted September 15, 2015 Report Share Posted September 15, 2015 The only Solo Mosca I've heard is the one on Choice. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
king ubu Posted September 15, 2015 Report Share Posted September 15, 2015 @Larry: great story!@brownie: thanks for re-inforcing ... into the cart it goes! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JSngry Posted September 15, 2015 Report Share Posted September 15, 2015 I well recall Larry's review, and I listen to as much Sal Mosca as I can get my hands on, although not as often as I can get my hands on it. Over the years, as Larry suggests, he's evolved into quite a distinctive niche player, if you know what I mean, couldn't have happened without Tristano, but not really speaking that language as overtly as he once did.I guess he really led the hermetic lifestyle, though. I seem to recall an inrview with him somewhere in the last decade or two where he said he's looking forward to playing with Oscar Pettiford, or something like that. Isolation - works wonders for developing one's personal art, not worth a damn for getting gigs. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
king ubu Posted September 15, 2015 Report Share Posted September 15, 2015 I guess he really led the hermetic lifestyle, though. I seem to recall an inrview with him somewhere in the last decade or two where he said he's looking forward to playing with Oscar Pettiford, or something like that. Isolation - works wonders for developing one's personal art, not worth a damn for getting gigs.Ouch! (or wait, maybe like that I can after all still catch Coltrane live?) Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JSngry Posted September 15, 2015 Report Share Posted September 15, 2015 Sure! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Larry Kart Posted September 16, 2015 Author Report Share Posted September 16, 2015 I well recall Larry's review, and I listen to as much Sal Mosca as I can get my hands on, although not as often as I can get my hands on it. Over the years, as Larry suggests, he's evolved into quite a distinctive niche player, if you know what I mean, couldn't have happened without Tristano, but not really speaking that language as overtly as he once did.I guess he really led the hermetic lifestyle, though. I seem to recall an inrview with him somewhere in the last decade or two where he said he's looking forward to playing with Oscar Pettiford, or something like that. Isolation - works wonders for developing one's personal art, not worth a damn for getting gigs.Likewise, of course, upon his return to the scene Henry Grimes was unaware that Albert Ayler no longer was alive. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JSngry Posted September 16, 2015 Report Share Posted September 16, 2015 Larry, so you know of any indicators that Mosca went through the same type (or similar) of "changes" that Grimes did? That degree of isolation for that long is just...unusual, I think. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Larry Kart Posted September 16, 2015 Author Report Share Posted September 16, 2015 From Wikipedia: "In 2002, Grimes [was found] alive but nearly destitute, without a bass to play, renting a tiny apartment in Los Angeles, California, writing poetry and doing odd jobs to support himself." Mosca’s case probably was not comparable, or not that comparable, to Grimes': http://www.theguardian.com/news/2007/aug/09/guardianobituaries.usa1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
AllenLowe Posted September 16, 2015 Report Share Posted September 16, 2015 what I was saying was that Spirits was with Mosca. Which it was, and he was the subject of this thread. Hence my mention of the cd. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Larry Kart Posted September 16, 2015 Author Report Share Posted September 16, 2015 what I was saying was that Spirits was with Mosca. Which it was, and he was the subject of this thread. Hence my mention of the cd.OK -- something about the way you put it seemed elliptical to me, as though "Spirits" already had been mentioned. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
AllenLowe Posted September 16, 2015 Report Share Posted September 16, 2015 no, I just really loved that LP when I first heard it back when it came out, or probably a few years later; I used to go see Konitz all the time at Gregory's with Dick Katz and Wilbur little and his playing, on the right nights, was just a revelation. It was very close to what he did on Spirits. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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