Wednesday, December 31, 2014

Playlist, Week of 2014-12-28

[Lester+Lanin-Christmas+Dance+Party-Smaller.jpg]

Krimble! Hope everyone has had/is having a nice holiday break. Had a great two-day session with Rodger; recorded over 3 hours of music!

Playlist 2014-12-29:

*Animal Collective: Merriweather Post Pavilion
*Arctic Monkeys: Whatever People Say I Am, That’s What I’m Not
*Arctic Monkeys: AM
*Beatles: Help! (2009 mono remaster)
*Beatles: The Beatles  (2009 mono remaster) (disc 1)
*Bing Crosby: The Christmas Songs
*Johnny Cash: The Sun Years
*Vince Guaraldi Trio: A Charlie Brown Christmas
*Lester Lanin: Christmas Dance Party
*Prince: Art Official Age (selections)
*Rolling Stones: Hits and Stuff (CDR compilation) (disc 1)
*Various artists: The Spirit of Christmas Past
*Various artists: A Swinging Big Band Christmas
*Various artists: Xmas 2014 (CDR compilation)

Reading List, Week of 2014-12-28

Reading List 2014-12-29:

*Tilbury, John. “ AMM 1965-71,” from Cornelius Cardew: A Life Unfinished (started)
*Tilbury, John. “ Treatise 1963-67,” from Cornelius Cardew: A Life Unfinished (finished)
*Erikson, Steven. House of Chains (reread/in progress)

Tuesday, December 23, 2014

Playlist, Week of 2014-12-21



Playlist 2014-12-22:

*Tchaikovsky: Nutcracker: Favorite Excerpts (London Symphony Orchestra)
*Cornelius Cardew: Works 1960-70 (Tilbury/Duch/Davies)
*Shostakovich: The String Quartets (Emerson String Quartet) (disc 3)
*AMM: The Crypt: 12th June 1968, The Complete Session (disc 2)
*Anthony Braxton: Composition 96
*Anthony Braxton: Quartet (Victoriaville) 1992 “Composition 161”
*Anthony Braxton: Piano Music (1968-2000)/Performed by Genevieve Foccroulle (disc 2)
*Rodger Coleman & Sam Byrd: 2014-11-25 Nashville (wav)
*Colla Parte: 2011-11-11 Silver Spring, MD (wav)
*Duke Ellington: The Private Collection, Vol. 10: Dance Dates California 1958
*Mary Halvorson Quintet: Saturn Sings
*Joe Henderson: The Blue Note Years (disc 4)
*New Loft: 2008-02-13 “Living Space” (wav)
*New Ting Ting Loft: 2014-12-08 “Feed the Feed” (wav)
*Tony Oxley: February Papers
*Paradoxical Frog: Paradoxical Frog
*Sam Rivers Trio: Live
*Alan Silva and His Celestrial Communication Orchestra: Luna Surface
*Alan Silva and the Celestrial Communication Orchestra: Seasons (disc 2)
*Esbjörn Svensson Trio: 301
*Cecil Taylor Quartet: 1998-12-05 Yoshi's, Oakland (CDR) (disc 2)
*Beatles: Men & Horses, Hoops & Garters (boot CDR)
*Circulatory System: Mosaics Within Mosaics
*D’Angelo and the Vanguard: Black Messiah
*Deerhoof: La Isla Bonita
*DJ Spooky: Riddim Warfare (selections)
*DJ Spooky: Sound Unbound: Excerpts and Allegories from the Sub Rosa Archives
*Mike Elder/Harry Forrest/Greg Jordan/Sam Byrd: 2014-12-12 (wav)
*Justice: Audio, Video, Disco
*Kinks: The Kinks Are the Village Green Preservation Society (selections)
*Opeth: Pale Communion
*Various artists: Christmas Legends
*Various artists: Perfect Christmas
*Various artists: Xmas 2014 (CDR compilation) (disc 1) (selections)

Reading List, Week of 2014-12-21



Reading List 2014-12-22:

*Erikson, Steven. House of Chains (reread/started)
*Tilbury, John. “ Treatise 1963-67,” from Cornelius Cardew: A Life Unfinished (started)
*Economist: “The Future of the Book: From Papyrus to Pixels” (2014-10-11) (started/finished)
*Barnes, Julian. Nothing To Be Frightened Of (finished)

Monday, December 15, 2014

Playlist, Week of 2014-12-14



A little catch-up on recent music activities:

Dark Carpet (above) played again in Brooklyn Friday night, and by the evidence of some audience video, they rocked...really, really hard! And got into some noise/thrash territory with the final number, when they stretched out "Color Set" to take out the set. Wish I could have been there!

Over Thanksgiving break I got together and recorded more with Rodger. He's already written about it here; the only things I'll add are: a. On guitar, Rodger sounds as great, if not better, than he ever did back in our UYA days. And his new piano sounds incredible. As usual, he kicked my butt and drew things out of me I didn't even know were there. Whatever we come up with will be guaranteed to have some way-out sounds, totally different from Cosmologies. Oh, and b. I take a lousy photo. All the photogenic genes went to my sibs.

I also have some thoughts about the last couple of years' new directions with New Ting Ting Loft, but I am going to save them for a separate post.

Playlist 2014-12-15:

*Stan Link: 2013-11-14 “Concert” (Rodger Coleman, piano) Nashville (streaming)
*AMM: The Crypt: 12th June 1968, The Complete Session (disc 1)
*Daniel Barbiero: “Sound Row No. 5 for Prepared Double Bass with Object Contintuo (excerpt)” (mp3)
*Anthony Braxton Ensemble: 1995-02-09 Tri-Centric Festival, NYC (CDR) “Composition 96”
*Anthony Braxton: Piano Music (1968-2000)/Performed by Genevieve Foccroulle (disc 1)
*Taylor Ho Bynum: 2014-09-17 Acoustic Bicycle Tour, Oakland, CA (streaming)
*Rodger Coleman & Sam Byrd: Cosmologies (LP) (side A)
*Rodger Coleman & Sam Byrd: 2014-11-25 Nashville (wav)
*Marilyn Crispell/Reggie Workman/Doug James: Gaia
*Marilyn Crispell: Live at Mills College, 1995
*Crispell/Brotzmann/Drake: Hyperion
*Marilyn Crispell: Santuerio
*Marilyn Crispell Trio: Live in Zurich
*Marilyn Crispell/Gary Peacock/Paul Motian: Nothing Ever Was, Anyway (disc 2)
*Vince Guaraldi Trio: A Charlie Brown Christmas
*Barry Guy/Marilyn Crispell/Paul Lytton: Ithaca
*Joe Henderson: The Blue Note Years (discs 2, 3)
*Charles Mingus: Cumbia & Jazz Fusion
*Roscoe Mitchell/Anthony Braxton Creative Orchestra: 1984-06-30 Austria (CDR)
*New Ting Ting Loft: 2014-09-08 "You May Now Proceed To Take the Post Test for the Self Instruction Unit" (wav)
*New Ting Ting Loft: 2014-11-17 “Task Management” (wav)
*New Ting Ting Loft: 2014-12-08 “Feed the Feed” (wav)
*Evan Parker Electro-Acoustic Ensemble: Drawn Inward
*Alan Silva and the Celestrial Communication Orchestra: Seasons (disc 1)
*Sun Ra: Continuation (Saturn/Corbett vs. Dempsey 2CD) (disc 2)
*Sun Ra: Journey to Saturn (CDR compilation)
*Cecil Taylor Feel Trio: Two Ts for a Lovely T (disc 8)
*John Zorn: Enigmata
*B-52’s: Good Stuff
*Beach Boys: Ultimate Christmas
*Dark Carpet: 2014-12-12 Brooklyn (video)
*Deerhoof: La Isla Bonita
*Mike Elder/Harry Forrest/Greg Jordan/Sam Byrd: 2014 selections (CDR compilation)
*Mike Elder/Harry Forrest/Greg Jordan/Sam Byrd: 2014-11-07 (wav)
*Flying Lotus: Until the Quiet Comes
*Grateful Dead: Wake Up to Find Out (disc 2)
*High Llamas: A Sampler (CDR compilation)
*OOIOO: Gamel
*Shaolin Afronauts: Flight of the Ancients
*Sportsman’s Paradise: Welcome to Paradise
*Stock, Hausen, & Walkman: Organ Transplants Vol. 2
*Various artists: The Spirit of Christmas Past
*Various artists: It’s Saturday Night! Starday-Dixie Rockabilly 1955-1961 (disc 2)
*Robert Wyatt: ‘68

Reading List, Week of 2014-12-14



The reread continues!

Reading List 2014-12-15:

*Erikson, Steven. Memories of Ice (reread/finished)
*Barnes, Julian. Nothing To Be Frightened Of (in progress)

Saturday, December 13, 2014

Within and Without


When I was a boy, adulthood seemed an inaccessible condition--a mixture of unattainable competences and unenviable anxieties (pensions, dentures, chiropodists); and yet it arrived, though it did not feel from within how it looked from without. (Julian Barnes, Nothing To Be Frightened Of, p. 186)

Tuesday, December 9, 2014

Tommy Birchett, and the 8-Track Magic Orchestra

Continuous-loop 8-track tape cassettes
http://fieldwoodhs.ednet.ns.ca/cfhswilftape148.html

New Ting Ting Loft member Tommy Birchett is performing twice this weekend in Brooklyn, once as a member of the 8-Track Magic Orchestra, and once in a solo gig. Both shows should be awesome noise feasts, whether he's playing 8-track cassettes, audio cassettes, scratching sounds, slides, or bowed styrofoam. Last night Tommy unleashed some of his 8-track magic on New Ting, and it was momentous and stimulating. I'll be putting that piece up soon on the Internet Archive. So if you're up there and willing, check it out!

Here are details:

Thursday, Dec 11th

Musical Ecologies continues Thursday December 11th with New York-based artist and composer Gen Ken Montgomery. The evening will feature a rare performance of his 1994 concept piece The 8-Track Magic Orchestra with performers Sean JulianKevin BeaslyBarry WeisblatLary SevenTommy BirchettNancy Hwang and Fabio Roberti. Conducted by Montgomery, the performers use vintage 8-track players to perform with decaying commercially released 8-track tapes originally designed for playback in Lear jets. In the resulting performance, Montgomery engages in a form of “Oxide decontructivism of popular culture stuck in time” and attempts "…to extract sonic magic using these gloriously fun, sexy, unstable tapes created for the Space Age.” The evening will also include an 8-track solo performance by the composer. 

Sunday, Dec 14 
GENERATIONS UNLIMITED
12.06.2014–12.21.2014
Saturday & Sundays 12-6pm
Gen Ken Montgomery will present...
Re-Launch of GENERATIONS UNLIMITED dramatic electronic music label PrintShop Hosted by ALLGOLD in the Printshop at PS1/MOMA. Opening reception & Lamination Ritual Saturday Dec. 6, 12-6pm. Concerts, installations and screenings curated by Ken Montgomery featuring: Arcane Device, Benton Bainbridge, Charles Cohen, CHOP SHOP, Conrad Schnitzler, Daren Ho, Enchantress of Bioluminosity, G. Lucas Crane, Gen Ken, If, Bwana, Lary 7, Kevin Beasley, Naval Cassidy, Ryder Cooley, Screwfeet, Unquent, The Sons of God and Tommy Birchett. 
Facebook invite for entire AllGold series
MOMA PS1 info
All Gold info

Playlist, Week of 2014-12-07



Playlist 2014-12-08:

*Marshall Allen/Elliott Levin/Tim Harding/Sam Byrd: 2007-12-13 Richmond VA (CDR)
*Daniel Barbiero: “Sound Row No. 5 for Prepared Double Bass with Object Contintuo (excerpt)” (mp3)
*Paul Bley: Introducing Paul Bley
*Boris Bobby Jr.: 2012-06-12 Ghost Print Gallery, Richmond VA (wav)
*Boris Bobby: 2012-09-29 Atlas Performing Arts Center, DC (Sonic Circuits Festival) (DVD)
*Anthony Braxton: Composition 96
*Anthony Braxton Quartet: 1985-06-28 Nickelsdorf (CDR)
*Rodger Coleman & Sam Byrd: 2014-11-25 Nashville (wav)
*Marilyn Crispell/Gary Peacock/Paul Motian: Nothing Ever Was, Anyway (disc 1)
*Mary Halvorson Quintet: Saturn Sings
*Joe Henderson: The Blue Note Years (disc 1)
*Evan Parker Electro-Acoustic Ensemble: Toward the Margins
*Sun Ra: Nubians of Plutonia
*Sun Ra: Dance of Innocent Passion “Dance of Innocent Passion”
*Cecil Taylor Feel Trio: Two Ts for a Lovely T (disc 6)
*Cecil Taylor: Burning Poles (DVD-R)
*Cecil Taylor Quartet: 1998-12-05 Yoshi's, Oakland (CDR) (disc 1)
*Weasel Walter/Mary Halvorson/Peter Evans: Electric Fruit
*Larry Young: Of Love and Peace
*Bubble Puppy: A Gathering of Promises
*Elvis Costello & the Attractions: Imperial Bedroom
*Dawn of Midi: 2014-11-17 Cincinnati (CDR)
*Deerhoof: La Isla Bonita
*Flying Lotus: You’re Dead!
*Mastodon: Crack the Skye
*Opeth: Pale Communion
*Sex Pistols: Never Mind the Bollocks, Here’s the Sex Pistols
*Sportsman’s Paradise: Welcome to Paradise
*Stock, Hausen, & Walkman: Organ Transplants Vol. 1
*Wig Drop: Wig Drop


Reading List, Week of 2014-12-07



Memories of Ice is kicking it!

Reading List 2014-12-08:

*Lock, Graham. “‘What I Call a Sound’: Anthony Braxton’s Synaesthetic Ideal and Notations for Improvisers” (finished)
*Barnes, Julian. Nothing To Be Frightened Of (in progress)
*Erikson, Steven. Memories of Ice (reread/in progress)

Tuesday, December 2, 2014

Playlist, Week of 2014-11-30



Sometimes I don't get to choose what I listen to. Hence, Britney!

On the other hand, the new Deerhoof is a gas...

Playlist 2014-12-01:

*Anthony Braxton: Composition 96
*Anthony Braxton Quartet: 1993-11-12 Knitting Factory (CDR) (selections)
*Freddie Hubbard: Blue Spirits
*New Ting Ting Loft: 2014-09-26 “Gather Grab” (wav)
*New Ting Ting Loft: 2014-11-10 “Never Enough Petting” (wav)
*Louis Prima: Louis Prima
*Sun Ra Arkestra: Live at the Red Garter (disc 1)
*Cecil Taylor Feel Trio: Two Ts for a Lovely T (disc 5)
*Beastie Boys: Ill Communication
*Animal Collective: Centipede Hz
*Beatles: Help! (2009 mono remaster)
*Beatles: Rubber Soul (2009 mono remaster)
*Chuck Berry: After School Session
*Elvis Costello: Trust
*Deerhoof: Offend Maggie
*Deerhoof: La Isla Bonita
*High Llamas: Snowbug (selections)
*Frank Ocean: Channel Orange
*Opeth: Pale Communion
*Ronettes: Be My Baby: The Very Best of the Ronettes
*Britney Spears: Greatest Hits: My Prerogative (disc 1)

Reading List, Week of 2014-11-30



One of the best books about music (of any kind) ever written!

Reading List 2014-12-01:

*Lock, Graham. “‘What I Call a Sound’: Anthony Braxton’s Synaesthetic Ideal and Notations for Improvisers” (started)
*Lock, Graham. Forces in Motion (reread/finished)
*Barnes, Julian. Nothing To Be Frightened Of (in progress)
*Erikson, Steven. Memories of Ice (reread/in progress)

Friday, November 28, 2014

Sun Ra in 2014




2014 has been the centenary of Sun Ra's earthly arrival, so there's been a lot of web activity acknowledging this event.  It's been nice to see the attention, as sporadic as it ultimately turns out to be (in spite of nothing really ever going away anymore, the web has a short attention span). If you're on the Saturn listserv, you've already seen a lot of these, but I thought I'd put together some of the best of these recent pieces.

Three of the best overviews have appeared in the Guardian, in South Side Weekly, and on the NPR jazz blog. An excellent in-depth history of Ra's early years on earth (in Birmingham, Alabama) appears in a four-part series with new research and rare photos, The Magic Citizen, by Burgin Mathews. Some nice overviews of Ra's oeuvre include the ones from Perfect Sound Forever (Part I and  Part II), Fact, and, focusing on the '70s, NPR.

What's really amazed me is the acceleration of new Ra releases over the last decade. Surprises keep on coming. With the advent of the iTunes Ra remaster program, there's been a bounty of unreleased nuggets from all across his career. Christopher Eddy and Stephen Antonelli's excellent blog Sun Ra Arkive has done an excellent job of keeping track of the new releases, even going so far as to put out mastering comparisons of every known version (original Saturn vinyl, Evidence CDs, vinyl reissues, iTunes versions) of many of the tracks: here, here, and here.

The Sun Ra Arkive also featured an excellent interview with Irwin Chusid, administrator of the newly incorporated Sun Ra LLC, who has worked closely with Sun Ra archivist Michael Anderson ("the Good Doctor") on the reissue.

A nice compendium of links appears here, and a fascinating finding aid details many of the yet-to-be-released treasures from the collection amassed by John Corbett in Chicago, The Sun Ra/El Saturn Collection, sound recordings and other material, 1950-1993. Tantalizing.

Finally, at some point, there will hopefully be content at the new Sun Ra.com site, which claims to be "a full clearinghouse of information about the world's foremost Afro-Futurist Genius." That remains to be seen; we can only hope! In the meanwhile, there is still the amazing backlog of writing about Sun Ra by Rodger Coleman, collectively known as Sun Ra Sunday. Happy listening!

Monday, November 24, 2014

Playlist, Week of 2014-11-23



Snagged a used copy from the UK! More on this in weeks to come....

Playlist 2014-11-24:

*Pepper Adams: Pepper Adams Plays Charlie Mingus
*Rashied Ali/Charles Gayle/Sirone: 2008-03-08 Burghausen, Germany (CDR)
*Anthony Braxton: Five Pieces 1975
*Anthony Braxton: Composition 96
*Anthony Braxton: Six Compositions (Quartet) 1984
*Anthony Braxton Quartet: 1985-06-22 Ljubljana, Slovenia (CDR)
*Anthony Braxton/Marilyn Crispell: 1995-05-22 London (CDR)
*Clifford Brown-Sonny Rollins-Max Roach Quintet: Complete Studio Recordings
*Mark Dresser Quintet: Nourishments
*Duke Ellington: The Complete 1932-1940 Brunswick, Columbia and Master Recordings of Duke Ellington and His Famous Orchestra (disc 8)
*Bill Evans Trio, Lee Konitz, & Warne Marsh: Crosscurrents
*David Fiuczynski: Kif Express
*Mary Halvorson Quintet: 2014-10-23 Frankfurt (CDR)
*Jackie McLean: Destination... Out!
*New Ting Ting Loft: 2014-09-26 “Gather Grab” (wav)
*New Ting Ting Loft: 2014-10-20 "International Super Fashion Girl" (wav)
*New Ting Ting Loft: 2014-11-03 “Distance from Unicode” (wav)
*New Ting Ting Loft: 2014-11-10 “Never Enough Petting” (wav)
*Charlie Parker: The Complete Dean Benedetti Recordings of Charlie Parker (disc 3)
*Sun Ra: Other Shades (CDR compilation)
*Cecil Taylor Feel Trio: Two Ts for a Lovely T (discs 5, 7)
*Various artists: Best of Ken Burns Jazz
*John Zorn: Ipsissimus
*Beck: Odelay
*Deerhoof: Live Koalamagic
*Deerhoof: Live Session EP
*Deerhoof: La Isla Bonita
*Dope: Felons and Revolutionaries
*Flying Lotus: You’re Dead!
*Jimi Hendrix Experience: Electric Ladyland (sides 1 & 2)
*Kinks: The Kink Kronikles
*Paul McCartney: McCartney
*Ann Peebles: The Best of Ann Peebles: The Hi Records Years
*Rolling Stones: Exile on Main St. (deluxe ed., remastered) disc 1
*Rolling Stones: Some Girls
*Ronettes: Be My Baby: The Very Best of the Ronettes
*Santana: Greatest Hits
*Squeeze: Frank
*Various artists: Very Best of Burt Bacharach
*Frank Zappa & the Mothers of Invention: 1968-10-23 BBC, London (CDR)

Reading List, Week of 2014-11-23



One of the strongest books in the series. A real roller coaster!

Reading List 2014-11-24:

*Erikson, Steven. Memories of Ice (reread/started)
*Erikson, Steven. Deadhouse Gates (reread/finished)
*Barnes, Julian. Nothing To Be Frightened Of (in progress)
*Lock, Graham, Forces in Motion (reread/in progress)

Monday, November 17, 2014

Playlist, Week of 2014-11-16



Playlist 2014-11-17:

*Shostakovich: The String Quartets (Emerson String Quartet) (disc 2)
*Various artists: Music for Merce (1952- 2009) (disc 3)
*Various artists: Anthology Of Dutch Electronic Tape Music: Vol. 1 (1955-1966)
*Paul Bley/Gary Peacock/Paul Motian: Not Two, Not One
*Anthony Braxton: Composition No. 94 for Three Instrumentalists (1980)
*Anthony Braxton Quartet: 1985-05-19 Salzburg, Austria
*Anthony Braxton Ensemble: 1995-02-09 Tri-Centric Festival, NYC (CDR) “Composition 96”
*James Carter Organ Trio: Out Of Nowhere
*Rodger Coleman: Guitar Experiments (2014) (wav)
*Marilyn Crispell: Live in San Francisco
*Marilyn Crispell: Contrasts: Live at Yoshi’s (1995)
*Marilyn Crispell: For Coltrane
*Marilyn Crispell/Stefano Maltese: Red
*Marilyn Crispell/Gary Peacock/Paul Motian: Amaryllis
*Andrew Hill: Compulsion!!!!!
*Warne Marsh: Sax of a Kind
*Charles Mingus: The Jazz Workshop Concerts 1964-65 (disc 7)
*Paul Motian Trio: It Should’ve Happened a Long Time Ago
*New Ting Ting Loft: 2013-06-10 “Sound Construction” (wav)
*New Ting Ting Loft: 2014-11-03 “Distance from Unicode” (wav)
*Evan Parker/Transatlantic Art Ensemble: Boustrophedon
*John Patton: Memphis to New York Split
*Sun Ra: Explore the Cosmos (2014 remaster) (selections)
*Cecil Taylor Unit: Cecil Taylor Unit “Holiday en Masque”
*Cecil Taylor Feel Trio: Two Ts for a Lovely T (disc 4)
*Cecil Taylor Quartet: 1998-12-04 Yoshi's, Oakland (CDR) (disc 2)
*James Blood Ulmer: Odyssey
*Buttfinger: 2014-11-05 Auxiliary, Richmond VA (streaming)
*Dope: Life
*East River Pipe:  The Gasoline Age
*Mike Elder/Harry Forrest/Greg Jordan/Sam Byrd: 2014-11-07 (wav)
*Fireman: Electric Arguments
*Opeth: Watershed

Reading List, Week of 2014-11-16



Reading List 2014-11-17:

*Beal, Amy C. “ ‘A Short Stop Along the Way’: Each-Thingness and Music for Merce” (finished)
*Barnes, Julian. Nothing To Be Frightened Of (in progress)
*Erikson, Steven. Deadhouse Gates (reread/in progress)
*Lock, Graham. Forces in Motion (reread/in progress)

Friday, November 14, 2014

Most Reread Works



I have been thinking lately about the act of rereading, especially after finishing Patricia Meyer Spacks's thoughtful book On Rereading.  I decided to go back through my listing of all the books I've read and see which ones I've reread the most. (Yes, I keep a tally, with hash-marks.) While I don't do nearly as much rereading as I do first-time reading, I find that I have done a fair amount of it, enough to make this interesting to me. It turns out there are a fair amount of second- and third-time rereads in my list. I guess being an English major trained me in the practice, and I've known for years that rereading is really enjoyable, and, for the best of works, essential.

So, I'll start at the top! The work I've read the most times is, by far, at 11 times:

Hamlet by William Shakespeare. Makes sense, as this is my all-time favorite Shakespeare play.

After that, the reread amounts drop off.

Read 6 times:

Shakespeare, Macbeth
Shakespeare, Richard II

Read 5 times:

Faulkner, Sound and the Fury
Shakespeare, Anthony and Cleopatra
Shakespeare, Romeo and Juliet
Shakespeare, The Tempest
Shakespeare, Troilus and Cressida

...there's something of a pattern here. But it spreads out a bit with the next number:

Read 4 times:

Fleming, Thunderball
Joyce, Portrait of the Artist as a Young Man
Joyce, Ulysses
Nabokov, Lolita
Pynchon, V
Pynchon, Crying of Lot 49
Pynchon, Gravity's Rainbow
Shakespeare, Henry IV Part 1
Shakespeare, King Lear
Shakespeare, Much Ado About Nothing
Shakespeare, Twelfth Night
Shakespeare, Winter's Tale

The ringer here is the 007 book! I won't list out all the books I've read three times; the list consists mostly of the remainder of Shakespeare and the rest of the James Bond books (I got started on both of those authors pretty early). Other notable 3-time reads:

Austen, Pride and Prejudice
Carroll, Alice in Wonderland
Cooper, The Dark Is Rising series
Homer, Iliad (different translations)
Homer, Odyssey (different translations)
King, The Gunslinger
Milton, Paradise Lost
Nabokov, Ada
Nabokov, Pale Fire
Pullman, His Dark Materials trilogy
Rowling, Harry Potter series
Sorrentino, Imaginative Qualities of Actual Things
Sterne, Tristram Shandy
Tolkien, Lord of the Rings
Twain, Mark, Adventures of Huckleberry Finn

As for books I've read twice, there are too many to mention.

Rereading list to get to (from my old reading plan):

Ellroy, James. Older books before LA Quartet, and then Cold 6000 trilogy
Faulkner, William. Absalom, Absalom
Gaddis, William. RecognitionsJR
Joyce, James. Finnegans Wake
Melville, Herman. Moby-Dick
Milton, John. Paradise Lost
Nabokov: GiftEnchanterSebastian Knight, etc.
Pynchon, Thomas. Against the Day
Wallace, David Foster. Infinite Jest

I am currently rereading Erikson's Malazan Book of the Fallen.  After that, who knows?

Tuesday, November 11, 2014

Playlist, Week of 2014-11-09

Playlist 2014-11-10:



I seem to be on a piano kick. I need to explore more Marilyn Crispell! This is an offshoot of my excursions into Braxton's great quartet, spurred on by my reread of the excellent Forces in Motion (more thoughts on that to come...).

*Mozart: The Concertos for Piano & Orchestra (Murray Perahia/English Chamber Orchestra) (disc 4)
*Various artists: Music for Merce (1952- 2009) (disc 2)
*Paul Bley/Paul Motian: Notes
*Paul Bley/Furio Di Castri/Tony Oxley: Chaos
*Paul Bley/Gary Peacock/Paul Motian: Not Two, Not One
*Anthony Braxton Trio: 1980-06-25 Pisa (CDR)
*Anthony Braxton Quartet: 1985-02-11 NYC (CDR)
*Anthony Braxton Quartet: 1985-05-19 Salzburg, Austria “Composition 96”
*Anthony Braxton: Willisau (Quartet) 1991 “No. 23C + 32 + 105B (+30)”
*Anthony Braxton Ensemble: 1995-02-09 Tri-Centric Festival, NYC (CDR) “Composition 96”
*Rodger Coleman: Guitar Experiments (2014) (wav)
*Marilyn Crispell/Gary Peacock/Paul Motian: Amaryllis
*Marilyn Crispell/Gerry Hemingway: Affinities
*George Duke: Feel (side 1)
*Duke Ellington: The Private Collection, Vol. 2: Dance Sessions, California, 1958
*Barry Guy/Marilyn Crispell/Paul Lytton: Ithaca
*Freddie Hubbard:The Artistry of Freddie Hubbard (selections)
*Jackie McLean: One Step Beyond
*Charles Mingus: The Jazz Workshop Concerts 1964-65 (disc 6)
*Roscoe Mitchell/Transatlantic Art Ensemble: Composition/Improvisation Nos. 1, 2 & 3
*Hank Mobley: Soul Station
*Lee Morgan: The Sidewinder
*New Ting Ting Loft: 2014-10-20 "International Super Fashion Girl" (wav)
*Max Roach and Cecil Taylor: Historic Concerts
*Sun Ra: Native Son Mix (1.1 and Max Cole) (CDR)
*Cecil Taylor: Olu Iwa
*Cecil Taylor Quartet: Nailed
*Cecil Taylor Feel Trio: Two Ts for a Lovely T (disc 3)
*Beatles: On Air: Live at the BBC Volume 2 (disc 2)
*Beatles: Revolver (2009 mono remaster)
*Stephen David Heitkotter: Black Orckid
*OOIOO: Gamel
*Todd Rundgren: Runt
*Sportman’s Paradise: Welcome to Paradise
*Kelley Stoltz: Double Exposure
*Various artists: Pardon Me For Barging In Like This... (M Squared: Rare Recordings 1979-1983) (disc 1)

Reading List, week of 2014-11-09



Reading List 2014-11-10:

*Beal, Amy C. “ ‘A Short Stop Along the Way’: Each-Thingness and Music for Merce” (started)
*Erikson, Steven. Deadhouse Gates (reread/started)
*Esslemont, Ian C. Night of Knives (reread/finished)
*Barnes, Julian. Nothing To Be Frightened Of (in progress)
*Lock, Graham, Forces in Motion (reread/in progress)

Monday, November 3, 2014

Playlist, Week of 2014-11-02



Playlist 2014-11-03:

*Cornelius Cardew: Treatise (World Premiere Complete Recording)
*Shostakovich: The String Quartets (Emerson String Quartet) (disc 1)
*Various artists: Music for Merce (1952- 2009) (disc 1)
*AMM: The Crypt: 12th June 1968, The Complete Session
*Anthony Braxton: Quartet (London) 1985 (disc 2)
*Anthony Braxton: Quartet (Birmingham) 1985
*Anthony Braxton: Quartet (Coventry) 1985
*Anthony Braxton: 4 (Ensemble) Compositions 1992 (selections)
*George Duke: The Aura Will Prevail
*Joe Henderson: Page One
*Joe Henderson: Our Thing
*Joe Henderson: Mode for Joe
*Joe Henderson: Inner Urge
*New Ting Ting Loft: 2014-10-20 "International Super Fashion Girl" (wav)
*Evan Parker Electro-Acoustic Ensemble: The Moment's Energy
*Sun Ra: 1986 “Calling Planet Earth” video soundtrack
*Cecil Taylor Quartet: Nailed
*Cecil Taylor Quartet: 1998-12-04 Yoshi's, Oakland (CDR) (disc 1)
*Cecil Taylor Feel Trio: Two Ts for a Lovely T (discs 1, 2)
*Thumbscrew: 2014-09-13 Chicago (CDR) (disc 2)
*East River Pipe:  The Gasoline Age
*Stephen David Heitkotter: Black Orckid
*Jimi Hendrix Experience: Axis Bold as Love (selections)
*Killswitch Engage: As Daylight Dies (selections)
*Squeeze: Play
*Kelley Stoltz: Double Exposure
*Various artists: Auto Love Tape (cassette compilation)

Reading List, Week of 2014-11-02



Reading List 2014-11-03:

*Esslemont, Ian C. Night of Knives (reread/started)
*Erikson, Steven. Gardens of the Moon (reread/finished)
*Esslemont, Ian C. Assail (finished)
*Barnes, Julian. Nothing To Be Frightened Of (in progress)
*Lock, Graham, Forces in Motion (reread/in progress)

I have finally started my reread of the Malazan Book of the Fallen, the 10-volume high fantasy series by Steven Erikson (augmented by Ian C. Esslemont's 6 novels). It's a massive undertaking (we're talking well over 10,000 pages here!), but I know what I'm getting into. It's a densely-written, poetry-packed, brutally challenging series that manages to overturn tired fantasy cliches while affirming what is best about the best fantasy, from Homer to George R.R. Martin: adventure, imagination, complex plotting, military extravaganzas, and a strong evocation of a mysterious and unknowable universe of gods and, for lack of a better term, magic. Marvelous characters, some of the best battle scenes and individual fight scenes ever written, and wonderfully evoked moods, scenes, and philosophical ramblings: Malazan is all of this, and more. Erikson can write, and he brings a finely-honed poetic sensibility to every one of these novels. I started these when only the 4th or 5th one was out, and I was worried that he wouldn't be able to pull it off. If he'd taken 7-8 years between each volume, well, I wouldn't be writing this. Fortunately he finished it, and I am thrilled to now return and go through the whole thing all at once. I am also following along with the Malazan Reread of the Fallen, which is still going on (and has been since 2010!), so I'll be steeped in Malazan for quite some time.

I found two really good introductions to the series on Goodreads: here and here. Both of these reviews really give a good sense of the depth and heft of Erikson's achievement, as well as an acknowledgement of the frustration and puzzlement many readers experience when attempting to get into the series. I get the sense that many people give up after (or during) the first book in the series, and I understand why: Malazan is not easy reading. It doesn't flow like Tolkien or satisfy like Martin. It challenges, it puzzles, it frustrates, yes, but its rewards, once you get immersed in its universe, are stronger and more mind-blowing. If you are at all intrigued, take a look at those two reviews, then try this list, then trust me and read at least the first 2 1/2 books. Then we'll talk.

Saturday, November 1, 2014

Great Jazz Albums from 1973 to 1990



So now I'm going to quote myself, from my older post of thoughts about perfect jazz recordings :
Years ago, there was a similar discussion somewhere about great jazz albums of the '70s, and I put together my own list and posted it on New Loft's old Myspace page. I went back to the Myspace graveyard to see if it was still there; they've revamped the site, and while some of our old content is still there, it looks like they blasted the blog portion. So I need to do some archaeology and find out if I've got that list floating around anywhere (hopefully with some link back to the original list that prompted it--it may be been some jazz board discussion).
Turns out it wasn't that hard at all to find it in my old files. The list was made back in 2006, as a response to an article/list by Ethan Iverson on great jazz records issued between 1973 and 1990. (That original article is no longer available on the web; at least, the link I had for it is dead, and the Wayback Machine from archive.org didn't have it either. However, in my 2006 post, I also referenced two other responses, which are still available and are quite nice: Night After Night's, and Darcy James Argue's.)

It looks like I was restricting myself to vinyl, as you can tell from my older comments:
I've been enjoying the discussion of great jazz recordings from 1973 to 1990 that's been going on recently in various blogs. It started here, at "Do The Math": http://thebadplus.typepad.com/dothemath/2006/08/ethan_iversons_.html Then he asked for more, and got tons of responses, including these: http://thebadplus.typepad.com/dothemath/2006/09/responses_vol_3.html ...Unfortunately, he closed down the invitation before I got a chance to respond! Well, since I love lists, and I also have a lot of vinyl from this era, when I really started getting into jazz in earnest, I'm just gonna go ahead and post my list here. I am not gonna have enough time to write comments on every single album, and this list is far from complete, it's just some faves. And it's vinyl only, and since I've sold a fair amount of records over the years as I've gotten them on CD (heresy? yes, probably), it's really far from complete. As you can see, my list starts to taper off in the mid-'80s, because that's when I started buying more CDs.
So, here's my 2006-compiled list of great jazz LPs that I have from 1973 to 1990:

1973 Art Ensemble of Chicago  Fanfare for the Warriors
1973 Ornette Coleman  Dancing in Your Head
1973 Santana  Welcome
1973 Joe Henderson  Multiple
1973 Dave Holland  Conference of the Birds
1973 Human Arts Ensemble  Under the Sun
1973 Chris McGregor's Brotherhood of Breath  Live at Willisau  I was thrilled to see this on a couple of other lists.  This is a great live album, brimming with ideas and energy.  I loved Mongezi Feza's work with Robert Wyatt, and it's great to hear him in this out-big-band context.
1973 Eberhard Weber Colours of Chloe
1974 Anthony Braxton  New York Fall 1974
1974 Santana  Lotus
1974 Bennie Maupin  The Jewel in the Lotus
1974 Charles Mingus  Changes One Great examples of the push-and-pull of in and out tendencies in Mingus's small group recordings.
1974 Charles Mingus  Changes Two
1974 Paul Motian  Tribute
1974 Dewey Redman Coincide
1974 Sam Rivers Crystals
1974 Archie Shepp  Kwanza
1975 Anthony Braxton  The Montreux/Berlin Concerts
1975 Julius Hemphill  Coon Bid'ness
1975 Keith Jarrett Shades
1975 Keith Jarrett Mysteries
1975 Don Pullen  Jazz a Confronto
1975 Don Pullen Capricorn Rising  w/Sam Rivers
1975 Sam Rivers  Sizzle
1975 Archie Shepp  Mariamar
1975 Weather Report Tale Spinnin'
1975 Anthony Braxton  Five Pieces 1975
1976 Anthony Braxton  Creative Orchestra Music 1976
1976 360 Degree Music Experience  In: Sanity
1976 Ornette Coleman  Body Meta
1976 Charlie Haden  Golden Number  Ornette on trumpet
1976 Sam Rivers  The Quest
1976 Sun Ra Live in Montreux  Damn, I don't have any Saturns on vinyl.  But I do have Live at Montreux, one of his best live albums, not the least because he combines well-recorded piano with moog so fluidly and effortlessly in the out pieces here. And Gilmore's solo on "Take the 'A' Train" is top-notch!
1976 Wildflowers: The New York Loft Jazz Sessions vol. 1, 2, 4, 5
1977 Billy Hart Enchance  "Corner Culture" (Redman, Oliver Lake, Hannibal Peterson, Don Pullen, Dave Holland)
1977 Hamiet Bluiett Orchestra, Duo & Septet
1977 Chris McGregor's Brotherhood of Breath  Procession: Live at Toulouse
1978 Anthony Braxton  NW5-9M4: For Trio
1978 Muhal Richard Abrams  LifeA BlineC  I saw Amina Claudine Myers in the '80s and, like the stupid star-struck geek that I am, went up to her and asked "What key are we in?"  She looked at me like I was  crazy...and I was, and still am, crazy for this fantastic record!
1978 Art Ensemble of Chicago  Nice Guys
1978 Lester Bowie  The 5th Power
1978 Bill Bruford Feels Good to Me
1978 Pete Christlieb/Warne Marsh Quintet  Apogee
1978 Charles Mingus  Cumbia & Jazz Fusion
1978 Louis Moholo Octet Sprits Rejoice
1978 David Murray Quartet The London Concert
1978 Sun Ra The Other Side of the Sun
1978 Cecil Taylor  One Too Many Salty Swift and Not Goodbye
1978 Cecil Taylor Unit
1978 Cecil Taylor 3 Phasis
1978 James Blood Ulmer  Tales of Captain Black
1978 David Murray 3D Family
1979 Henry Threadgill X-75 Volume 1
1979 Air  Air Lore
1979 Ornette Coleman  Of Human Feelings
1979 David Murray Trio Sweet Lovely
1979 Amina Claudine Myers  Song for Mother E
1979 Max Roach  The Long March
1980 Art Ensemble of Chicago  Full Force
1980 Art Ensemble of Chicago  Urban Bushmen
1980 Ronald Shannon Jackson & the Decoding Society  Eye on You
1980 Roscoe Mitchell and the Sound Ensemble  Snurdy McGurdy and Her Dancing Shoes
1980 David Murray Octet  Ming
1980 Music Revelation Ensemble  No Wave  Kudos to Amin Ali!  My old band Tad Thaddock used to play a twisted version of "Baby Talk"
1980 James Blood Ulmer  Are You Glad to Be in America?
1980 Bill Dixon In Italy Volume 1
1980 Bill Dixon In Italy Volume 2
1981 Ronald Shannon Jackson & the Decoding Society  Nasty (mainly for the 11-minute extravaganza "When We Return")
1981 Joseph Jarman/Don Moye  Earth Passage/Density
1981 Material Memory Serves
1981 Roscoe Mitchell and the Sound Ensemble  3 X 4 Eye
1981 David Murray Octet  Home
1981 James Blood Ulmer  Free Lancing  It's a damn crime that this, and Black Rock, haven't been re-released on CD.
1981 World Saxophone Quartet W.S.Q.
1982 Kip Hanrahan  Coup de Tete
1982 Kip Hanrahan  Desire Develops an Edge
1982 Ronald Shannon Jackson & the Decoding Society  Mandance
1982 Henry Threadgill Sextet When Was That?
1982 James Blood Ulmer  Black Rock
1983 Dave Holland  Life Cycle  solo cello
1983 Ronald Shannon Jackson & the Decoding Society  Barbeque Dog
1983 Roscoe Mitchell and the Sound and Space Ensembles
1983 Cecil Taylor Calling It the Eighth
1984 Cecil Taylor Segments II  Winged Serpent (Sliding Quadrants)
1984 Henry Threadgill Sextet  Subject to Change
1985 Ornette Coleman  Opening the Caravan of Dreams
1985 Ornette Coleman  Prime Design/Time Design
1985 Butch Morris Current Trends in Racism in Modern America
1986 Sonny Rollins  G-Man
1986 Last Exit  Last Exit My introduction to Brotzmann.  Boy, have I had fun catching up to his work over the years! And I'm still way behind.
1987 Ornette Coleman  In All Languages
1988 Last Exit  Iron Path
1989 Art Ensemble of Chicago  The Alternate Express

From my 2014 eyes, what'd I leave out? Miles, Pangaea and Agharta.  Not sure how that happened, since I was way into those albums when they first came out. Oh, well, the beauty of lists....

Wednesday, October 29, 2014

Rereading's Gifts


Gerrit Dou, Old Woman Reading a Lectionary (Rembrandt's Mother) (1630)
Although I have also experienced, in the course of my rereading, unexpected bursts of affection for the past self that devoured every book in sight, I have often felt inclined to repudiate that earlier self for its gullibility, its blindness, its undependable or unaccountable judgments. Yet surely we should be charitable to our past selves, if only because we realize that, granted another decade of perspective, we may judge our current selves equally inadequate. Perspective on and insight into the self is yet another of rereading's gifts.  (Patricia Meyer Spacks, On Rereading, p. 278)

Monday, October 27, 2014

Playlist, Week of 2014-10-26


http://173000.blogspot.com/2008/07/cecil-taylor-tony-oxley.html

I stumbled across Hank Shteamer's most recent blog post about Cecil Taylor, and I am so glad I did...it's chock full of insight and has some great links. I was astounded to find out there that the legendary 10-CD box set of the Feel Trio (Cecil, William Parker, Tony Oxley), Two Ts for a Lovely T, is available on amazon for under $12. MP3s, true, but at 320, and I'll never be able to afford that limited-edition out-of-print box, and it has long been a gap in my Cecil collection, so I jumped on it, and immersed myself in it all week. It is fantastic. Oxley is killer, and the perfect complement to Cecil, who is, as usual, ravishing and beautiful here. Whew.

Playlist 2014-10-27:

*Rodger Coleman & Sam Byrd: Cosmologies (LP) (side A)
*Jimmy Ghaphery/Tatsuya Nakatani: 2014-02-20 Richmond VA (wav)
*Globe Unity Orchestra: 1979-01-26 Bad Godesberg, Germany (CDR)
*Joe Henderson: In ‘n Out
*Sun Ra and His Astro Infinity Arkestra: Strange Strings (2014 remaster)
*Cecil Taylor Feel Trio: Two Ts for a Lovely T (discs 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10)
*Thumbscrew: 2014-09-13 Chicago (CDR) (disc 1)
*Mike Elder/Harry Forrest/Greg Jordan/Sam Byrd: 2014-08-29 (wav) (selections)
*Four Tops: 50th Anniversary Anthology (disc 1)
*Residents: Meet the Residents
*Il Sogno del Marinaio: Canto Secondo
*Various artists: Golden Throats: The Great Celebrity Sing Off
*Various artists: It’s Saturday Night! Starday-Dixie Rockabilly 1955-1961 (disc 3)
*Frank Zappa: Sleep Dirt (side 1)

Reading List, Week of 2014-10-26



Back into the world of Malazan. I'll have more to say about this in weeks to come.

Reading List 2014-10-27:

*Barnes, Julian. Nothing To Be Frightened Of (started)
*Esslemont, Ian C. Assail (started)
*Lock, Graham, Forces in Motion (reread/started)
*Spacks, Patricia Meyer. On Rereading (finished)
*Erikson, Steven. Gardens of the Moon (reread/in progress)

Sunday, October 26, 2014

Rereading


Like intimacy with a person, intimacy with a book adds value to the revelations that relationship involves. Its intensification is one of rereading's great pleasures. (Patricia Meyer Spacks, On Rereading, p. 143)

Wednesday, October 22, 2014

81 Perfect Jazz Recordings




Okay, after much deliberation, I am finally putting up my own humble list of perfect jazz recordings: 81, to be exact. If that number seems arbitrary, that's because it is; that number could have easily been twice as large and still only scratched the surface, at least by how I reckon it, by how I define perfect. I finally had to stop after a while, stop myself from just going through every single jazz recording I own, so I didn't do that...what I have done is largely from memory, plus I went through the Magic Jukebox, and supplemented it with some eyeball checks.

Like I said in my previous post, this list is a response to Richard Brody's New Yorker list and Robin Tomens' list on his blog Include Me Out. List-making strikes me as a very odd endeavor. It's fun to do, but the selection process by definition creates a sense of hierarchy that I sometimes feel guilty invoking. Let's call it a guilty pleasure. I also feel like I should put the words "perfect" and "jazz" in quotes , because I have so many caveats...so many that it almost renders a list like this pointless. But, as you can see, I made it anyway!

What is perfection? Can a recording be perfect and still have warts? Do those warts in fact help define perfection? Does perfection really mean "I wouldn't change anything about it?" Does a random squeak in a sax solo disqualify it from perfection, or does it add to its perfect character by defining it? Whatever. I like what Brody says: the tracks in his list "convey a sense of retrospective inevitability." I also like this:
The simplest definition of the list I have pulled together is that it has nothing to do with historical significance, solely to do with my own memory. They’re not only recordings that I revisit often (though I do) but recordings that come unbidden, that remember themselves, so to speak—earworms that multiply into ideas of music as such. They’re not necessarily “the best” or even the most exemplary of their performers; they’re recordings that have taken me over.
Yeah, let's go with that. I have gone here for recordings that are perfect...for me. It's not that different a list from recordings that I would call my favorites. The meaninglessness of lists like this starts to come into focus. Let's sharpen the focus by saying again that this list could be five times as long and still not exhaust the candidates. There are a lot of perfect jazz tracks out there!

Unlike the other lists that were my inspiration, I didn't restrict myself either chronologically or numerically, although I have to say my list doesn't have too much current stuff on it-- that's not a judgement on newer jazz, it's more of a statement on what floats my boat, and also on gaps in my listening. Then again, my gaps go way back too. Anyway, note also that there are a lot of predictable "classics" on this list, recordings readily venerated by scores of jazz fans before me. To that I say: they are classics for a reason.

So: here's the list, alphabetical by title. In case of multiple versions of a piece, I have tried to include the album title or the year  (or both) of the version I am listing.

1. Black Bottom Stomp (Jelly Roll Morton)
2. Body and Soul (Coleman Hawkins)
3. Bud P. (Dedicated to Bud Powell) (Muhal Richard Abrams)
4. Bulbs (Cecil Taylor)
5. Charlie M. (Art Ensemble of Chicago)
6. Chasin’ the Trane ("Complete 1961 Village Vanguard Recordings," disc 1)  (John Coltrane)
7. Comp. No. 40B (“Six Compositions: Quartet”) (Anthony Braxton)
8. Comp. No. 51 (“Creative Orchestra Music 1976”) (Anthony Braxton)
9. Comp. No. 159 (“Willisau (Quartet) 1991”) (Anthony Braxton)
10. Coney (Tom Rainey Trio)
11. Conversation (Charles Mingus)
12. Cotton Tail (1940, Victor) (Duke Ellington)
13. Dancing Shadows (“Nothing Is”) (Sun Ra)
14. Duke Ellington’s Sound of Love (“Changes One”)  (Charles Mingus)
15. Duplicity (Andrew Hill)
16. East Coasting (Charles Mingus)
17. Filles de Kilimanjaro (Miles Davis)
18. Four Winds (Dave Holland)
19. Girl from Ipanema (Getz/Gilberto)
20. Globe Unity 70 (Globe Unity Orchestra)
21. Hat and Beard (Eric Dolphy)
22. Home (David Murray Octet)
23. Images (“Jazz in Silhouette”) (Sun Ra)
24. It Never Entered My Mind (Miles Davis)
25. Ko-Ko (Victor, 1940) (Duke Ellington)
26. Ko-Ko (Savoy, 1945) (Charlie Parker)
27. Law years (Ornette Coleman)
28. Lineform on 7 (Roscoe Mitchell)
29. Liza (1937) (Benny Goodman Quartet)
30. Love (“First Meditations”) (John Coltrane)
31. Machine Gun (2nd take) (Peter Brotzmann)
32. Man in the Green Shirt (Weather Report)
33. Me Myself and I (Billie Holiday)
34. Merry-Go-Round (1933) (Duke Ellington)
35. Merry-Go-Round (1935) (Duke Ellington)
36. Ming (David Murray Octet)
37. Mr. P.C. (1961, “Live Trane: The European Tours” disc 2) (John Coltrane)
38. Moten Swing (Bennie Moten’s Kansas City Orchestra)
39. New Now Know How (Charles Mingus)
40. Night and Day (Billie Holiday)
41. Night in Tunisia (Dial, 1946) (Charlie Parker)
42. The Ninth Room (Art Ensemble of Chicago)
43. October (Sun Ra)
44. Old Gospel (Jackie McLean)
45. One Down, One Up (“Live at the Half Note: One Down, One Up”) (John Coltrane)
46. Parker’s Mood (Charlie Parker)
47/48. Peace on Earth (“Live in Japan,” both versions) (John Coltrane)
49. The Pearls (Jelly Roll Morton)
50. A Piece of Software (Henry Threadgill Sextet)
51. Plutonian Nights (Sun Ra)
52. Possession (“Sun Song”) (Sun Ra)
53. Practice Makes Perfect (Billie Holiday)
54. Prince of Darkness (Miles Davis)
55. Quadrant 4 (Billy Cobham)
56. Reincarnation of a Lovebird (Atlantic) (Charles Mingus)
57. Reminiscing in Tempo (Duke Ellington)
58. Rumpus in Richmond (Duke Ellington)
59. The Same Old Story (Billie Holiday)
60. Saturn ("The Singles") (Sun Ra)
61. Search Light Blues (Sun Ra)
62. The 7th Day (Freddie Hubbard)
63. Snurdy McGurdy and her Dancing Shoes (Roscoe Mitchell and the Sound Ensemble)
64. So What (live Copenhagen 1960) (Miles Davis)
65. Song with Orange (Charles Mingus)
66. Spanish Key (Miles Davis)
67. Springsville (Miles Davis)
68. The Stampede (Fletcher Henderson)
69. Somewhere Else (Sun Ra)
70/71. Stardust (both takes) (Louis Armstrong)
72. Stardust (live Fargo 1940) (Duke Ellington)
73. Sugar Foot Stomp (“Hocus Pocus”) (Fletcher Henderson)
74. Taht (Cecil Taylor)
75. Theme from “The Asphalt Jungle” (“Great Paris Concert”) (Duke Ellington)
76. Thoughts under a Dark Blue Light (Sun Ra)
77. Tight Like This (Louis Armstrong)
78. West End Blues (Louis Armstrong)
79. With (Exit)  (Cecil Taylor)
80. Yes or No (Wayne Shorter)
81. You Go to My Head (Billie Holiday)

Tuesday, October 21, 2014

Playlist, Week of 2014-10-19

Playlist 2014-10-20:



All of these players continue to blow me away, especially Ingrid Laubrock.

*Bach: The Well-Tempered Clavier (Glenn Gould) (disc 1)
*John Cage: The Complete String Quartets Vol. 2 (Arditti Quartet)
*Shostakovich: The String Quartets (Emerson String Quartet) (discs 3, 4, 5)
*Anthony Braxton: Quartet (London) 1985
*Anthony Braxton: Quartet (Birmingham) 1985
*Anthony Braxton Ensemble: 2012-05-02 Wesleyan (CDR)
*Don Cherry: Complete Communion
*Don Cherry: Symphony for Improvisors
*Ornette Coleman & Prime Time + Don Cherry: 1987-07-03 Ravenna, Italy (CDR)
*John Coltrane: Live at the Half Note: One Down, One Up “My Favorite Things”
*Herbie Hancock: Maiden Voyage
*Charles Mingus: The Jazz Workshop Concerts 1964-65 (disc 5)
*Jelly Roll Morton: The Complete Library of Congress Recordings by Alan Lomax (disc 6)
*New Ting Ting Loft: 2014-09-08 "You May Now Proceed To Take the Post Test for the Self Instruction Unit" (wav)
*New Ting Ting Loft: 2014-10-06 "Waiting for Ben" (wav)
*Tony Oxley: It Cuts Through: A Tony Oxley Mixtape (CDR compilation)
*Evan Parker Electro-Acoustic Ensemble: 2006-11-17 London (CDR)
*Evan Parker Electro-Acoustic Ensemble: The Moment's Energy
*Pharoah Sanders: Live at the East
*Tom Rainey Trio: Pool School
*Sun Ra: Live at Slug’s Saloon (discs 5, 6)
*Sun Ra: Soundtrack to the Film “Space Is the Place”
*Weather Report: Mysterious Traveller
*Weather Report: 8:30 (side 4)
*Wrest: Wrest (Jack Wright/Evan Lipson/Ben Bennett) Spring Garden Music 18
*Chicago Transit Authority: Chicago Transit Authority
*Paul McCartney: New
*Muffins: 1977 Washington DC (CDR) (disc 2)
*Todd Rundgren: The Todd Rundgren Radio Show
*Various artists: Purple Snow: Forecasting the Minneapolis Sound (disc 2)

Reading List, Week of 2014-10-19



I highly recommend the Last Policeman trilogy by Ben H. Winters. Really well-done, and especially in the last volume, quite moving.

Reading List 2014-10-20:

*Winters, Ben H. World of Trouble (started/finished)
*Erikson, Steven. Gardens of the Moon (reread/in progress)
*Spacks, Patricia Meyer. On Rereading (in progress)

Tuesday, October 14, 2014

Playlist, Week of 2014-10-12



William Bell was excellent this weekend! In fine voice, beautiful, soulful. Deep soul renditions of "I Forgot To Be Your Lover" and "Every Day Will Be Like a Holiday." I saw him on Friday night; here's a clip from Saturday's show.

Playlist 2014-10-13:

*John Cage: The Complete String Quartets Vol. 1 (Arditti Quartet)
*Shostakovich: The String Quartets (Emerson String Quartet) (discs 1, 2)
*Various artists: District of Noise Vol. 6: A Compilation of Experimental Music from Washington DC
*Tim Berne: Snakeoil
*Anthony Braxton/Falling River Music Quartet: 2012-10-11 Ulrichsberg, Austria (CDR)
*Duke Ellington: At the Cotton Club (disc 1)
*Herbie Hancock: Empyrean Isles
*Freddie Hubbard: Ready for Freddie
*Freddie Hubbard:The Artistry of Freddie Hubbard
*Freddie Hubbard: Breaking Point
*Jackie McLean: One Step Beyond
*Jackie McLean: Destination... Out!
*Jackie McLean: ‘Bout Soul
*Roscoe Mitchell Quartet: 2009-06-28 Tivoli (CDR)
*Grachan Moncur III: Evolution
*Tony Oxley Quintet: 1974-03-18 London (CDR)
*Tony Oxley Sextet: 1976-10-28 London (CDR)
*Tony Oxley Quartet: 1976-06-20 Hamburg (CDR)
*Evan Parker Electro-Acoustic Ensemble: The Eleventh Hour
*Harold Rubin/Barre Phillips/Tatsuya Nakatani: 3 on a Thin Line
*Pharoah Sanders: Live at the East
*Matthew Shipp Trio: 2012-11-10 London (CDR)
*Sun Ra: Live at Slug’s Saloon (discs 3, 4)
*Sun Ra Arkestra: 1979-07-14 The Hague, Netherlands (CDR)
*Weather Report: Mr. Gone
*Weather Report: 8:30 (side 4)
*Lester Young: Classic Columbia, Okeh, and Vocalion Lester Young with Count Basie (1936-1940) (discs 3, 4)
*Acid Mothers Temple & the Melting Paraiso U.F.O.: La Novia
*B-52’s: Cosmic Thing
*William Bell: The Soul of a Bell
*William Bell: A Little Something Extra
*Muffins: 1977 Washington DC (CDR) (disc 1)
*Sex Pistols: Never Mind the Bollocks, Here’s the Sex Pistols
*Various artists: Purple Snow: Forecasting the Minneapolis Sound (disc 1)

Reading List, Week of 2014-10-12



Good reading these days....

Reading List 2014-10-13:

*Erikson, Steven. Gardens of the Moon (reread/started)
*Winters, Ben H. Countdown City (started/finished)
*Barth, John. “Click” in Atlantic Monthly (Dec. 1997) (finished)
*Dickens, Charles. Dombey and Son (finished)
*Ellroy, James. Perfidia (finished)
*Spacks, Patricia Meyer. On Rereading (in progress)

Thursday, October 9, 2014

William Bell at Richmond Folk Festival



William Bell, one of the great Stax soulmen, is appearing at the Richmond Folk Festival this weekend. Details here. I have never seen any of the classic Stax musicians live, so I am very excited!

Here are my Top 10 William Bell cuts, in order:

10. You Don't Miss Your Water
9. Forever Wouldn't Be Too Long
8. Who Will It Be Tomorrow
7. Never Like This Before
6. Eloise (Hang On In There)
5. Every Day Will Be Like a Holiday
4. I Forgot To Be Your Lover
3. Let's Do Something Together
2. She Won't Be Like You
1. Do Right Woman Do Right Man

Bonus track: Private Number (duet with Judy Clay)

Tuesday, October 7, 2014

Subtle Body Sonic Circuits pic



A nice shot, taken I believe by Gary Rouzer. Subtle Body Transmission Orchestra, 2014-10-04, Sonic Circuits Festival, Silver Spring MD.

From a write-up by Dan:
Saturday’s program began with beautiful, clear weather—and a good thing too, since the opening set, a site-specific work combining improvised music and movement for my group, The Subtle Body Transmission Orchestra, and three dancers, was scheduled to take place outdoors in the Pyramid Atlantic parking lot. Because Pyramid is an artists’ space the grounds contain sculptures and other visual and tactile oddities. We incorporated all of these into our set, with dancers Ken Manheimer, Amanda Blythe and Sarah Schaffer moving in and out of the sculptures’ metal lattice work or weaving in and around saxophonists Tim Harding and Tom Wall, percussionist Sam Byrd, vibraphonist Rich O’Meara and me. We took the opportunity to use the available open space to create an improvisation exploiting the ambient acoustics and incidental sounds—including at one point a passing police siren. Real-time Dictaphone interventions were provided courtesy of Jeff Surak.


Playlist, Week of 2014-10-05



Playlist 2014-10-06:

*AMM: AMMMusic 1966
*Count Basie: Count Basie Volume 1: 1932 to 1938
*Lester Bowie Sho ‘Nuff Orchestra: 1979-02-17 NYC (CDR) (disc 2)
*George Duke: The Aura Will Prevail
*Mary Halvorson Quintet and Septet: 2011-10-14 NYC (CDR)
*New Ting Ting Loft: 2014-08-25 “The Most Effective Effort” (wav)
*Evan Parker/Derek Bailey/Han Bennink: The Topography of the Lungs
*Tom Rainey Trio: Pool School
*Tom Rainey Trio: Camino Cielo Echo
*Schlippenbach Quartet: Das Hohe Lied
*Wayne Shorter: JuJu
*Sun Ra: Live at Slug’s Saloon (disc 2)
*Sun Ra: Calling Planet Earth (web compilation)
*Cecil Taylor Quintet: 1965-07-02 Newport Jazz Festival
*Cecil Taylor: 3 Phasis (side 1)
*John Tilbury: Barcelona Piano Solo
*Lester Young: Classic Columbia, Okeh, and Vocalion Lester Young with Count Basie (1936-1940) (disc 2)
*Beatles Remixer Group: Tuned to a Natural E (CDR compilation)
*CCC/Ill Chemist: Cracked Pepper
*Chemical Brothers: Push the Button
*Mike Elder/Harry Forrest/Greg Jordan/Sam Byrd: 2014-09-26 (wav)
*Brian Eno: The BBC Sessions 1974-1976
*Grateful Dead: 1972-07-25 Portland OR (CDR)
*Kip Hanrahan: Deep Rumba 2012-08-29 Sardegna, Italy (CDR)
*Led Zeppelin: Led Zeppelin III (selections)
*Curtis Mayfield: Roots
*Curtis Mayfield: Back to the World
*Prince: Art Official Age
*Prince/3rdeyegirl: Plectrumelectrum
*Rufus Thomas: Do the Funky Chicken
*Various artists: BIPPP: French Synth-Wave 1979/85
*XTC: Skylarking (side 1)
*Neil Young: A Letter Home

Reading List, Week of 2014-10-05



Reading List 2014-10-06:

*Barth, John. “Click” in Atlantic Monthly (Dec. 1997) (in progress)
*Dickens, Charles. Dombey and Son (in progress)
*Ellroy, James. Perfidia (in progress)
*Spacks, Patricia Meyer. On Rereading (in progress)

Wednesday, October 1, 2014

Subtle Body Transmission Orchestra at Sonic Circuits Saturday Oct. 4



I'm thrilled to be playing with the Subtle Body Transmission Orchestra this weekend at DC's Sonic Circuits Festival.  We're going on at 5:30, either outside Pyramid Atlantic, around the fire truck pictured above, or inside, depending on weather. The music will be outside regardless, heh heh.
(Photo: Nico Barbiero/Postup Productions)
The Subtle Body Transmission Orchestra + Movement is a site-specific music & dance collaboration exploring the outdoor environment around Pyramid Atlantic with sound and improvised movement.
Daniel Barbiero (1958, New Haven CT) is a double bassist, sound artist and composer in the Washington DC area. He has released work under his own name and with If, Bwana (Al Margolis), Ictus Records percussionist Andrea Centazzo, Blue Note recording artist Greg Osby, and electronic sound artist Steve Hilmy, among others. In addition to his solo work and work with The Subtle Body Transmission Orchestra, he is a founding member of the free improvisation quartet Colla Parte and is a regular contributor to Avant Music News and Percorsi Musicali. The Subtle Body Transmission Orchestra is:
Daniel Barbiero, double bass, Sam Byrd, percussion & miscellany, Tim Harding, alto saxophone, Rich O'Meara, vibraphone & percussion, Tom Wall, baritone saxophone, with Jeff Surak, real-time tape interventions and dancers Ken Manheimer & others

Dark Carpet's first gig

Dark Carpet cover art

If you're up in the Brooklyn/NYC area, definitely check out Dark Carpet this Friday at Freddy's! Their first ever live performance; should be blazin'--wish I could make it.


Tuesday, September 30, 2014

Playlist, Week of 2014-09-28


Playlist 2014-09-29:

*Morton Feldman: For Philip Guston (S.E.M. Ensemble) (disc 1)
*Charles Ives: Ives Plays Ives
*AMM: 2000-10-14 Boston (CDR)
*Ornette Coleman Quintet: Complete Live at the Hillcrest Club
*Miles Davis: Bitches Brew “Bitches Brew”
*Mary Halvorson Quintet and Septet: 2011-10-14 NYC (CDR)
*Jelly Roll Morton: The Complete Library of Congress Recordings by Alan Lomax (discs 4, 5)
*New Ting Ting Loft: 2014-09-08 "You May Now Proceed To Take the Post Test for the Self Instruction Unit" (wav)
*Evan Parker Electro-Acoustic Ensemble: Memory/Vision
*Schlippenbach Quartet: Das Hohe Lied
*Sun Ra: The Shadows Took Shape “Outer Space > Untitled improvisation”
*Sun Ra: Live at Slug’s Saloon (disc 1)
*Sun Ra Arkestra: 1979-07-01 Firenze, Italy (CDR)
*Acid Mothers Temple & the Melting Paraiso U.F.O.: Wild Gals a Go-Go
*Hatfield and the North: The Rotters’ Club (selections)
*Lake Street Drive: Bad Self Portraits
*OOIOO: Gamel
*Various artists: It’s Saturday Night! Starday-Dixie Rockabilly 1955-1961 (disc 1)
*Various artists: Radio India: The Eternal Dream Of Sound (disc 1)
*Various artists: The Roots Of Chicha: Psychedelic Cumbias From Peru


Reading List, Week of 2014-09-28



I usually avoid reading more than one novel at once. I've got 200 pages left in Dickens, but I drop everything for new Ellroy.

Reading List 2014-09-29:

*Barth, John. “Click" in Atlantic Monthly (Dec. 1997) (started)
*Ellroy, James. Perfidia (started)
*Spacks, Patricia Meyer. On Rereading (started)
*Barth, John. “The Art of Fiction No. 86” (interviewed by George Plimpton), in Paris Review (1985) (started/finished)
*Calvino, Italo. “The Odysseys within The Odyssey” in Why Read the Classics? (started/finished)
*Dickens, Charles. Dombey and Son (in progress)

Saturday, September 27, 2014

Perfect Jazz Recordings


http://i614.photobucket.com/albums/tt226/WarrenSenders/Jazz/SunRa009.jpg

I haven't been making enough lists lately. Oh, I've got working lists all over the place--lists of songs to add to playlists, lists of songs to delete from the Magic Jukebox, lists of albums and artists to investigate, my lengthy, constantly growing list of books to read, the lists I keep of what I read, what I listen to, what I watch--but I still feel the need to compile and post more targeted lists, like the list of favorite John Gilmore solos that I am forever refining in my mind.

All of this is spurred on in part by Richard Brody's list of 66 perfect jazz recordings in the New Yorker--itself inspired by Sasha's list of perfect recordings (which I haven't looked at; it seems to be on Twitter or on Spotify--so sue me). I actually got to Brody's list via a post from the blog Include Me Out, 33 Perfect Jazz Tracks (which might be closer to my own personal tastes). At any rate, I eat this stuff up. I love going through other lists and the mental dialogue that ensues between myself and the listmaker (how could you leave this out? what on earth were you thinking? good god, I can't believe you included that; yes, why doesn't everybody see that this belongs on everybody's list, etc.), and I love starting to think about what my own list would look like (even if I rarely follow through with an actual list).

Should I then even try to compile my own list of x amount of perfect jazz recordings? Damn, I'm tempted. But my sense is that it would take too long, and time is something I don't have much of these days.

Years ago, there was a similar discussion somewhere about great jazz albums of the '70s, and I put together my own list and posted it on New Loft's old Myspace page. I went back to the Myspace graveyard to see if it was still there; they've revamped the site, and while some of our old content is still there, it looks like they blasted the blog portion. So I need to do some archaeology and find out if I've got that list floating around anywhere (hopefully with some link back to the original list that prompted it--it may be been some jazz board discussion).

Anyway, the point is that I recall that list taking a fair amount of time to compile--it involved going through all my collection as well as other lists to try to make sure I didn't miss anything. I can't just throw a list like this together off the top of my head. I get obsessed with getting it right and covering all the bases. I can't depend on just my memory anymore; I need visual and aural refreshing.

But I may cogitate over this and throw up a list at some point in the future. If I do, I won't stick to Include Me Out's self-imposed limitation of one piece per artist (sorry: five songs by Sun Ra or Mingus are worth more than one by Art Blakey). Some kind of limitation will have to be in effect, though, or else the list will just be too unwieldy. Just not that one. So watch this space. If you make one of your own, be sure and let me know!

Update: my list is here.

Monday, September 22, 2014

Playlist, Week of 2014-09-21


Simply brilliant.

Playlist 2014-09-22:

*Chopin: Sonata No. 3 in B Minor & Four Ballades (Cecile Ousset)
*Haydn: String Quartets op. 64 no. 1-3 (Caspar da Salo Quartett)
*My Fair Lady (Original Broadway Cast)
*Bix Beiderbecke: Bix Restored Volume 2: 1927-1928 (disc 1)
*Kip Hanrahan: Vertical’s Currency (selections)
*Roscoe Mitchell: Not Yet
*Matthew Shipp: I’ve Been to Many Places
*Altan: Blackwater
*B-52’s: Cosmic Thing
*Beach Boys: Today/Summer Days and Summer Nights (two-fer)
*Beatles: Hard Day's Night (2009 mono remaster)
*Beatles: Beatles for Sale (2009 mono remaster)
*Daft Punk: Discover
*High Llamas: Beet, Maize & Corn
*Jefferson Pilot: Hello Mississippi
*Sean O'Hagan & Jean Pierre Muller: The Musical Paintings, Vol. 1
*OOIOO: Gamel (selections)
*Various artists: Rum Punch
*Mary Wells: Something New: Motown Lost & Found (disc 1)
*XTC: English Settlement

Reading List, Week of 2014-09-21



Reading List 2014-09-22:

*Calvino, Italo. “Why Read the Classics?” in Why Read the Classics? (started/finished)
*Sharpe, Will. “Authorship and Attribution,” in William Shakespeare and Others. Collaborative Plays. (started/finished)
*Mikics, David. Slow Reading in a Hurried Age (finished)
*Dickens, Charles. Dombey and Son (in progress)