Playlist, Week of 2025-10-12

 

This trio recording from John Butcher is exhilarating.... I've never heard anyone else approach what he does with the sax... "Do You Want to Go...Swimming?", the new album from Richmond's own George (not to be confused with John Hollenbeck's group), is exhilarating in a different, rock-based way... Katie Condon's sultry overdubbed vocals are the main draw here, and her compositions are strengthened by the addition of a second guitarist... Who is that on the piano at the beginning of "The Mexican Suite"? Thelonious Monk? Sun Ra? Nope, it's Duke Ellington, and it's a brilliant intro to a superb late-career suite... 

Playlist 2025-10-13:

*Art Ensemble: 1967/68 (disc 1) "Quartet No. 1"
*Beatles: The Beatles (sides 1, 2)
*Beatles: Yellow Submarine Songtrack
*Beethoven: String Quartets (Pavel Haas Quartet)
*Tim Berne's Snakeoil: Shadow Man "Socket"
*Anthony Braxton Trio: 1979-11-19 Firenze (CDR) (disc 1)
*James Brown: Sex Machine (sides 1, 2)
*John Butcher: The Very Fabric
*John Butcher/Phil Durrant/Mark Wastell: Around the Square, Above the Hill
*Rodger Coleman/Sam Byrd: The Mathematics of War "New Landscape"
*Sylvie Courvoisier/Mary Halvorson: Bone Bells
*Miles Davis: The Complete On the Corner Sessions (disc 1) "Helen Butte/Mr. Freedom X  (Unedited Master)"
*Deerhoof: To Be Surrounded by Beautiful, Curious, Breathing, Laughing Flesh Is Enough
*Duke Ellington: The Indispensable Duke Ellington and the Small Groups (Vol. 9/10) 1940-1946 (side 2)
*Duke Ellington and His Orchestra: Live Sessions 1943/1945 (sides 1, 2)
*Duke Ellington: Duke Ellington's Concert of Sacred Music
*Duke Ellington/Ella Fitzgerald: Ella at Duke's Place
*Duke Ellington: Live in Mexico "The Mexican Suite"
*Tomas Fujiwara: Pith
*George: "Do You Want to Go...Swimming?"
*Grateful Dead: 1971-07-31 Yale Bowl (CDR) "Dark Star"
*Grateful Dead: 1971-10-21 Chicago (CDR) "Dark Star > Sittin' on Top of the World > Dark Star"
*Al Green: The Belle Album
*Tim Harding/OJ Hunter/Fred McGann/Sam Byrd: 2025-10-04 RVA (CDR)
*Tim Harding/OJ Hunter/Fred McGann/Sam Byrd: 2025-10-10 RVA (CDR)
*Alexander Hawkins: Song Unconditional
*Julius Hemphill: The Boyé Multi-National Crusade for Harmony (disc 5)
*Fletcher Henderson: A Study in Frustration (side 3)
*Jimi Hendrix Experience: Electric Ladyland
*Mothers of Invention: We're Only in It for the Money
*New Ting: 2025-10-06 "Lofty News" (wav)
*Zeena Parkins: Pan-Acousticon
*Mario Pavone: Arc Trio
*Paula Sanchez: Pressure Sensitive
*Horace Silver: Song for My Father
*Slobber Pup: Black Aces "Accuser"
*Sparks: MADDER!
*Stereolab: Instant Holograms on Metal Film
*Sun Ra and His Intergalactic Research Arkestra: Paradiso Amsterdam 1970 (side 2)
*Sun Ra: Kingdom of Discipline (side 1)
*Sun Ra: Stray Voltage (side 3)
*Sun Ra: Uncharted Passages (side 2)
*Sun Ra Arkestra under the Direction of Marshall Allen: Lights on a Satellite (side 2)
*Lewis Taylor: Numb
*Henry Threadgill Ensemble Double Up: Old Locks and Irregular Verbs "Part One"
*McCoy Tyner: Tender Moments
*Weather Report: 1975-11-06 Berlin (CDR)
*John Zorn/Brian Marsella Trio: Calculus "Parabolas"
*John Zorn/Chaos Magick: Through the Looking Glass

Reading List, Week of 2025-10-12

Reading List 2025-10-13:

*Herrimann, George. Krazy and Ignatz: Love Letters in Ancient Brick (1927-28) (started)
*Pynchon, Thomas. Shadow Ticket (started/finished)
*Everett, Walter. The Beatles as Musicians: Revolver through the Anthology (reread/in progress)
*Lambert, Eddie. Duke Ellington: A Listener's Guide (reread/selections)
*MacDonald, Ian. Revolution in the Head, 3rd ed. (reread/in progress)
*Pollack, Allan W. Notes on … Series (reread/in progress)
*Riley, Tim. Tell Me Why: A Beatles Commentary (reread/in progress)
*Spenser, Edmund. The Faerie Queene (in progress)
 

Playlist, week of 2025-10-07

Even after all these years of living with this album, I continue to be knocked out by Stevie Wonder's drumming... I am enjoying going back and exploring the early soul of Lewis Taylor... In "Dark Star" land, I am finally moving out of the güiro era and into Keith Godchaux territory... now things will really get serious... Prog props for Egg's second LP The Polite Force... I am digging this now way more than I did when I first got it way back when... The title track of Sun Ra's Space Probe is one of his finest sonic explorations... 

Playlist 2025-10-06:

*Adorables: The Adorables
*Beatles: Sgt. Peppers Lonely Heart Club Band (2009 stereo remaster) (side 2)
*Beau Hunks/Metropole Orchestra: LeRoy Shield's Our Relations (The Lost Laurel & Hardy Music)
*John Blum: Nine Rivers
*Booker T. & the MGs: Time Is Tight (disc 1)
*Anthony Braxton: Five Pieces 1975 (side 2)
*Anthony Braxton: 4 (Ensemble) Compositions 1992 "Comp. 100"
*Nels Cline: Consentrik Quartet
*John Coltrane: The Other Village Vanguard Tapes (side 1)
*Deerhoof: Surprise Symphonies
*Egg: The Polite Force
*Duke Ellington: Afro-Bossa
*Duke Ellington: Ellington '66 (side 2)
*Duke Ellington and His Orchestra: Concert in the Virgin Islands (side 2)
*Grateful Dead: 1971-02-18 Port Chester, NY (CDR) "Dark Star > Wharf Rat > Dark Star"
*Grateful Dead: 1971-02-20 Port Chester, NY (Enjoying the Ride, disc 6)
*Grateful Dead: 1971-04-08 Boston (CDR) "Dark Star"
*Grateful Dead: 1971-04-26 Fillmore East, NYC (CDR) "Dark Star"
*Grateful Dead: 1971-04-28 Fillmore East, NYC (CDR) "Dark Star"
*George Harrison: Wonderwall Music
*Joe Henderson: The Standard Joe
*Hugh Hopper/Kramer: A Remark Hugh Made
*Vijay Iyer: Compassion
*Makoto Kawashima: Arteria
*Joachim Kühn: Échappée (disc 2)
*Led Zeppelin: Live EP
*Jackie McLean: Right Now! (side 1)
*Myra Melford's Fire and Water Quintet: 2024-03-23 Knoxville TN (CDR)
*Ikue Mori: Labyrinth
*Prince: Blast from the Past 6.0 (excerpts)
*Elliott Sharp/Zeena Parkins: Psycho-Acoustic
*Sonic Liberation Front: Jetway Confidential
*Tyshawn Sorey/Kirsten Carey: Vociferously Yours "The Cruelest Goodbye"
*Sun Ra: Jazz by Sun Ra, Vol. 1 [Sun Song] (side 2)
*Sun Ra: Space Probe
*Sun Ra and His Inter-Galactic Research Arkestra: Nuits de la Fondation Maeght (side 8)
*Sun Ra: Kingdom of Discipline (side 2)
*Sun Ra: Stray Voltage (side 2)
*Sun Ra: Uncharted Passages (side 1)
*Cecil Taylor: Unit Structures (side 1)
*Cecil Taylor Unit: Live in Vienna
*Lewis Taylor: Lewis Taylor
*Lewis Taylor: The Lost Album
*Lewis Taylor: Limited Edition 2004
*McCoy Tyner: The Real McCoy (side 1)
*UYA: 1994-01-30 Up to 800 (wav)
*UYA: 1994-02-13 Streaks of Extrusion (wav)
*Various artists: Stax Revue: Live in '65! (disc 2)
*Various artists: The Songs Lennon and McCartney Gave Away
*Various artists: Treader Duos
*Weather Report: 1976-05-27 Seattle (CDR)
*Stevie Wonder: Music of My Mind

Reading List, Week of 2025-10-07

Reading List 2025-10-06:

Waiting for the new Thomas Pynchon!

*Everett, Walter. The Beatles as Musicians: Revolver through the Anthology (reread/in progress)
*Lambert, Eddie. Duke Ellington: A Listener's Guide (reread/selections)
*MacDonald, Ian. Revolution in the Head, 3rd ed. (reread/in progress)
*Pollack, Allan W. Notes on … Series (reread/in progress)
*Riley, Tim. Tell Me Why: A Beatles Commentary (reread/in progress)
*Spenser, Edmund. The Faerie Queene (in progress)
 

Playlist, Week of 2025-09-28

Great new quartet work from Nels Cline, with a hell of a band... I love the way Ingrid Laubrock is integrated into the sound, and Tom Rainey's drumming is stellar as always... Wonderful new solo piano from Alexander Hawkins... Inspired by Vinnie Sperrazza's research, I've been digging a lot into Joe Chambers... I still have a great cassette that Rodger made for me (back in the '90s!) featuring various Joe Chambers compositions... Still getting inspired by Cecil Taylor, Duke Ellington, Anthony Braxton, the Beatles, the Dead, and Sun Ra... my guiding lights...

Playlist 2025-09-29:

*Muhal Richard Abrams featuring Malachi Favors: Sightsong (side 2)
*Beatles: Past Masters (2009 stereo remaster) (sides 1, 2, 3)
*Beatles: With the Beatles (2009 stereo remaster) (sides 1, 2)
*Beatles: Hard Day's Night (2009 stereo remaster) (sides 1, 2)
*Beatles: Revolver (Super Deluxe 4 LP Edition 2022) (side 9)
*Beatles: Nice Time (boot CDR)
*Anthony Braxton: Quartet (England) 1985 (discs 4, 7, 8)
*Nels Cline: Consentrik Quartet
*Nick Dunston: Colla Voce
*Bob Dylan/Various artists: Theme Time Radio Hour S01 E48 "New York"
*Duke Ellington and Count Basie: First Time! The Count Meets the Duke (side 1)
*Duke Ellington: The Reprise Studio Recordings (discs 1, 6)
*Duke Ellington and His Orchestra: Concert in the Virgin Islands (side 1)
*Duke Ellington: The Intimate Ellington
*Gang of Four: Another Day/Another Dollar (sides 1, 2)
*Grateful Dead: 1970-10-11 Wayne, NJ (CDR) "Dark Star"
*Grateful Dead: 1970-11-05 Port Chester, NY (CDR) "The Other One > Dark Star"
*Grateful Dead: 1970-11-08 Port Chester, NY (CDR) "Dark Star > The Main Ten"
*Grateful Dead: 1972-04-21 Bremen, West Germany (CDR) "The Other One"
*Alexander Hawkins: Song Unconditional
*Bobby Hutcherson: Happenings
*King Crimson: Larks' Tongues in Aspic (The Complete Recordings) (disc 7) "Improv: A Boolean Melody Medley"
*Ikue Mori: Of Ghosts and Goblins
*New Ting: 2025-08-30 Test Run, Richmond VA (wav)
*New Ting: 2025-09-22 "Carburetor Can" (wav)
*Ivo Perelman/Matthew Shipp String Trio: Armageddon Flower
*Phantom Orchard: Hit Parade of Tears
*Tom Rainey Trio: 2016-07-01 NYC (CDR) (disc 1) track 1
*Rascals: Freedom Suite "Cute"
*Tomeka Reid Quartet: 3+3 (side 2)
*Wayne Shorter: Schizophrenia (side 2)
*Horace Silver: Song for My Father 
*Tyshawn Sorey: The Inner Spectrum of Variables (disc 2) "Reverie"
*Tyshawn Sorey/Kirsten Carey: Vociferously Yours "Unrelenting Insistence"
*Sparks: The Girl Is Crying in Her Latte (sides 1, 2)
*Sparks: MADDER! (sides 1, 2)
*Sun Ra: Hidden Fire
*Sun Ra: Stray Voltage (side 1)
*Cecil Taylor: Spring of Two Blue-J's (side 2)
*Cecil Taylor Feel Trio: Two Ts for a Lovely T (disc 2)
*Lewis Taylor: Stoned - Part II
*McCoy Tyner: Tender Moments
*UYA: 1994-01-19 Mental Knee Jerk (wav)
*Various artists: Stax Revue: Live in '65! (disc 1)
*Muddy Waters: Hoochie Coochie Man
*John Zorn: Fantasma: Illusions from a Surrealist Mirror

Reading List, Week of 2025-09-28

Reading List 2025-09-29:

*Everett, Walter. The Beatles as Musicians: Revolver through the Anthology (reread/started)
*Spenser, Edmund. The Faerie Queene (started)
*Everett, Walter. The Beatles as Musicians: The Quarry Men through Rubber Soul (reread/finished)
*Nadel, Dan. Crumb: A Cartoonist's Life (finished)
*Osman, Richard. The Last Devil to Die (finished)
*Shakespeare, William. Othello (Arden 3rd series, ed. E.A.J. Honigmann) (reread/finished)
*Lambert, Eddie. Duke Ellington: A Listener's Guide (reread/selections)
*MacDonald, Ian. Revolution in the Head, 3rd ed. (reread/in progress)
*Pollack, Allan W. Notes on … Series (reread/in progress)
*Riley, Tim. Tell Me Why: A Beatles Commentary (reread/in progress)
 

Gilbert Sorrentino on Ross Macdonald

 

As with all committed writers, form, for Ross Macdonald, was not something to chafe against, but to transmute and develop within its own container. Through his early deference to a rigorous and conventionalized form his later, unconventional art flourished. (Gilbert Sorrentino, "Ross Macdonald: Some Remarks on the Limitations of Form," in Something Said: Essays, North Point Press, 1984, p. 226)

...and of course, the same thing is true for Sorrentino himself.