Tuesday, June 17, 2025
Playlist, Week of 2025-06-15
Reading List, Week of 2025-06-15
*Catullus, Gaius Valerius. Love Poems of Catullus (ed. Tynan Kogane) (started)
*King, Stephen. Never Flinch (started)
*Smith, Ali. Artful (reread/started/finished)
*Panter, Gary. Gary Panter (ed. Dan Nadel) (in progress)
*Lambert, Eddie. Duke Ellington: A Listener's Guide (reread/selections)
*Shakespeare, William. Othello (Arden 2nd ed., ed. M.R. Ridley) (reread/in progress)
Tuesday, June 10, 2025
Playlist, week of 2025-06-08
Once again I find myself shocked by a return to an album I'd... well, not dismissed, but was not overly impressed with, only to discover upon relistening that I was an idiot... case in point: Duke Ellington Meets Coleman Hawkins... I am not usually a fan of artificial superstar gatherings, and I'd stupidly slotted this album in that category when I first heard it, oh, 20 years ago... maybe this is the exception that proves the rule but damn this is so fine... Coleman Hawkins fits into the reduced Duke Ellington orchestra as if he'd always been there... as Eddie Lambert points out, the band was already primed by having two superior tenor saxists already on board in the past (Ben Webster and Paul Gonsalves)... and Hawkins had been at it since the 1920s with Fletcher Henderson, but by 1962 his tone is golden and fits in perfectly with Ellington's deceptively easy swing... his solo on "Mood Indigo" alone makes this an indisputable masterpiece... this just makes me think I need to listen to music more (as if I needed any prompting)... what else am I missing?
Playlist 2025-06-09:*[Ahmed]: Wood Blues
*Art Ensemble of Chicago: 1978-10-07 Chicago (CDR) (disc 2)
*Art Ensemble of Chicago: 1978-10-14 Philadelphia (CDR) (disc 1)
*Artifacts: …And Then There’s This
*Tim Berne's Snakeoil: Tim Berne's Snakeoil (The Tower Tapes #1) (disc 1)
*Blondie: Blondie Singles Collection: 1977-1982 (disc 2)
*Blood Incantation: Absolute Elsewhere
*James Brown: Messing with the Blues (disc 2)
*John Butcher/Eddie Prévost: Interworks
*John Coltrane: 1966-07-02 Newport (CDR) "Leo"
*Elvis Costello & the Attractions: Get Happy (sides 1, 2)
*Kris Davis Trio: 2025-03-29 Big Ears, Knoxville TN (CDR)
*Bob Dylan/Various artists: Theme Time Radio Hour S01 E40 "Laughter"
*Duke Ellington and His Orchestra: Festival Session (side 2)
*Duke Ellington: The Girl's Suite/The Perfume Suite (side 2)
*Duke Ellington: Midnight in Paris
*Duke Ellington: Duke Ellington Meets Coleman Hawkins
*Duke Ellington: The Private Collection: Vol. 10, Studio Sessions New York & Chicago 1965, 1966, 1971 "Harlem"
*Duke Ellington and His Orchestra: Concert in the Virgin Islands (side 1)
*Michael Fornanek Elusion Quartet: Time Like This
*Grateful Dead: 1969-06-14 Monterey (CDR) "Dark Star"
*Grateful Dead: 1969-08-30 San Francisco (CDR) "Dark Star"
*Grateful Dead: 1969-09-01 Prairieville, LA (CDR) "Dark Star"
*Judith Hill: Back in Time
*Darius Jones: Legend of e'Boi (The Hypervigilant Eye)
*Louis Jordan and His Tympany Five: Louis Jordan's Greatest Hits (side 1)
*Allen Lowe and the Constant Sorrow Orchestra: Louis Armstrong's America, Vol. 2 (disc 1)
*Warne Marsh: Music for Prancing
*Muffins: Bandwidth
*Muffins: Double Negative
*New Ting: 2025-06-02 "Dire Frill" (wav)
*Ivo Perelman: The Art of the Improv Trio, Vol. 3
*Roxy Music: Country Life
*Masahiko Satoh/Otomo Yoshihide/Roger Turner: Sea
*Slobber Pup: Black Aces "Accuser"
*Wadada Leo Smith: 2025-03-30 Big Ears, Knoxville TN (CDR)
*Sparks: MAD!
*Bruce Springsteen: The Wild, the Innocent, and the E Street Shuffle
*Sun Ra and His Astro Infinity Arkestra: Holiday for Soul Dance
*Sun Ra Arkestra: ca. 1969-1970 Slugs', NYC (CDR) (disc 2)
*Sun Ra: Nuits de la Fondation Maeght (disc 1)
*Sun Ra: Kingdom of Discipline (side 2)
*Sun Ra: Haverford College, Jan. 25, 1980
*Henry Threadgill: Song Out of My Trees
*Various artists: Martin Scorsese Presents The Blues (A Musical Journey) (discs 1, 2, 3, 4)
*Various artists: Anthology of Noise and Electronic Music vol. 3: Third a-chronology 1952-2004 (disc 2)
*Wolf Eyes/Anthony Braxton: Live at Pioneer Works, Red Hook, NY, October 26th 2023
*Yes: Relayer (2016 remaster) (disc 1) "Gates of Delirium"
Reading List, Week of 2025-06-08
*Panter, Gary. Gary Panter (ed. Dan Nadel) (started)
*Le Guin, Ursula K. Steering the Craft (started/finished)
*Hegarty, Paul. Noise/Music: A History (finished)
*Moore, Terry. Strangers in Paradise (Omnibus ed.) (finished)
*Lambert, Eddie. Duke Ellington: A Listener's Guide (reread/selections)
*Shakespeare, William. Othello (Arden 2nd ed., ed. M.R. Ridley) (reread/in progress)
Monday, June 2, 2025
Playlist, Week of 2025-06-01
Well, I was way off base on Duke Ellington's "The Queen's Suite"... I wasn't taken with it at first, but after a few more listenings I can hear that it's beautiful, a masterful work of arranging and a unique combination of swing and mystery... Not much else to say this evening... if we were sitting somewhere pleasant, sharing a beer, I'm sure I'd have plenty to say about everything I've listened to this week... but when it comes to adding something in writing, I tend to freeze up... maybe it's the physicality of typing...
Reading List, Wek of 2025-06-01
*Hegarty, Paul. Noise/Music: A History (started)
*Dara, Evan. The Lost Scrapbook (finished)
*Martin Scorsese Presents The Blues: A Musical Journey (ed. Peter Guralnick et al.) (finished)
*Lambert, Eddie. Duke Ellington: A Listener's Guide (reread/selections)
*Moore, Terry. Strangers in Paradise (Omnibus ed.) (in progress)
*Shakespeare, William. Othello (Arden 2nd ed., ed. M.R. Ridley) (reread/in progress)
Tuesday, May 27, 2025
Playlist, Week of 2025-05-25
All American in Jazz is definitely one of the most underrated albums in the Ellington canon... maybe because there are no original Ellington-Strayhorn tunes, and the songs that are adapted are pretty mediocre ones from a failed Broadway musical... go figure: it's a fantastic record, with the band in top-notch form playing imaginative, driving arrangements and featuring great solos from Paul Gonsalves, Johnny Hodges, and Harold "Shorty" Baker, and great piano work from both Ellington and Strayhorn...
Playlist 2025-05-26:*[Ahmed]: Giant Beauty (disc 2)
*Air: Air Lore (side 1)
*Art Bears: Revisited (disc 2)
*Art Ensemble: 1967/68 (disc 4) "Quintet"
*Daniel Barbiero/Sam Byrd/Jimmy Ghaphery: 2017-12-02 Rhizome DC (CDR)
*Black Host: Life in the Sugar Candle Mines
*Anthony Braxton: Creative Music Orchestra (NYC) 2011
*James Brown: Messing with the Blues (disc 1)
*Dave Burrell: High Won - High Two (side 1)
*Deerhoof: Noble and Godlike in Ruin
*Bob Dylan/Various artists: Theme Time Radio Hour S01 E38 "Luck"
*Duke Ellington and His Orchestra: The Ellington Suites "The Queen's Suite"
*Duke Ellington and His Orchestra: A Drum Is a Woman (side 2)
*Duke Ellington: His Piano and His Orchestra at the Bal Masque
*Duke Ellington and His Orchestra: Festival Session (side 2)
*Duke Ellington and His Orchestra: Suite Thursday - Controversial Suite - Harlem Suite (side 1)
*Duke Ellington: Piano in the Foreground
*Duke Ellington: All American in Jazz
*Grateful Dead: 1969-08-03 San Francisco (CDR) (disc 2)
*Grateful Dead: 1969-08-16 Woodstock (CDR) "Dark Star"
*Grateful Dead: 1972-05-13 Lille, France (CDR) (disc 2) "The Other One"
*Grateful Dead: 1973-09-12 Williamsburg VA (CDR) (disc 2)
*Andrew Hill Sextet Plus 10: A Beautiful Day, Revisited (disc 2)
*Masayo Koketsu/Nava Dunkelman/Tim Berne: Poiēsis
*Brandon Lopez: Nada Sagrada
*Warne Marsh/Sal Mosca Quartet: Volume 2
*Ikue Mori/Brian Marsella/Sae Hashimoto: Archipelago X
*Ikue Mori/Steve Noble: Prediction and Warning
*Ikue Mori: Of Ghosts and Goblins
*Colin Moulding: The Hardest Battle
*New Ting: 2025-05-19 "Sigh Lonesome Hound (for Zeus)" (wav)
*Office Ladies: Malcolm Knew (disc 1)
*Elliott Sharp/Scott Fields: Réimsí Géara
*Sly and the Family Stone: Fresh
*Sun Ra: Sound Sun Pleasure (selections)
*Sun Ra: Jazz by Sun Ra, Vol. 1 [Sun Song]
*Sun Ra Arkestra: ca. 1969-1970 Slugs', NYC (CDR) (disc 1)
*Sun Ra Arkestra: 1969-07-03 Newport Jazz Festival (CDR)
*Sun Ra and His Inter-Galactic Research Arkestra: Nuits de la Fondation Maeght, Vol. 1 " The Cosmic Explorer"
*Sun Ra and His Inter-Galactic Research Arkestra: Nuits de la Fondation Maeght (sides 5, 6, 7, 8)
*Sun Ra: Piano Recital, Teatro La Fenice, Venezia
*Sun Ra: Uncharted Passages
*UYA: 1993-10-31 Reality Radio (wav)
*Various artists: Really the Blues? A Blues History 1893-1959 Vol. 1 (1893-1929) (disc 3)
*Various artists: Pennies from Heaven: 48 Original Recordings Featured in the BBC TV Serial (disc 2)
*Frank Zappa: Apostrophe (50th Anniversary Ed.) (disc 5)
Reading List, Week of 2025-05-25
*Dara, Evan. The Lost Scrapbook (started)
*Moore, Terry. Strangers in Paradise (Omnibus ed.) (started)
*Shakespeare, William. Othello (Arden 2nd ed., ed. M.R. Ridley) (reread/started)
*It's Alive! Classic Horror and Sci-Fi Movie Posters from the Kirk Hammett Collection (ed. Daniel Finamore) (started/finished)
*Mendelson, Cheryl. Home Comforts: The Art and Science of Keeping House (finished)
*Lambert, Eddie. Duke Ellington: A Listener's Guide (reread/selections)
*Martin Scorsese Presents The Blues: A Musical Journey (ed. Peter Guralnick et al.) (in progress)
Tuesday, May 20, 2025
Playlist, Week of 2025-05-18
Reading List, Week of 2025-05-18
*Martin Scorsese Presents The Blues: A Musical Journey (ed. Peter Guralnick et al.) (started)
*Casale, Jana. The Girl Who Never Read Noam Chomsky (started/finished)
*Mix Tape: The Art of Cassette Culture (ed. Thurston Moore) (started/finished)
*Haber, Mark. Lesser Ruins (finished)
*Lavezzoli, Peter. The King of All, Sir Duke: Ellington and the Artistic Revolution (finished)
*Lambert, Eddie. Duke Ellington: A Listener's Guide (reread/selections)
*Mendelson, Cheryl. Home Comforts: The Art and Science of Keeping House (in progress)
Monday, May 12, 2025
Playlist, Week of 2025-05-11
Deep Space is one of the most enjoyable recordings of late Marshall Allen, if only because of the company he's keeping... John Blum studied with Cecil Taylor and Milford Graves, and it shows... he is simply brilliant here... powerful stuff... The compositions of Marek Pospieszalski show off the playing of Zoh Amba to great advantage, more so maybe than some of the totally free sessions she's participated in...
Playlist 2025-05-12:*[Ahmed]: Giant Beauty (disc 1)
*Air: 1979-06-25 Rome (CDR) (disc 1)
*Louis Armstrong/Duke Ellington: The Great Summit, Complete Sessions, Deluxe Edition (disc 1)
*Art Ensemble of Chicago: 1978-10-07 Chicago (CDR) (disc 1)
*John Blum Quartet feat. Marshall Allen: Deep Space
*Anthony Braxton Trio: 1979-11-19 Firenze (CDR) (discs 1, 2)
*Tadd Dameron and His Orchestra: The Magic Touch
*Kris Davis Trio: 2025-03-29 Big Ears, Knoxville TN (CDR)
*Deerhoof: Noble and Godlike in Ruin
*Bob Dylan/Various artists: Theme Time Radio Hour S01 E36 "Hair"
*Duke Ellington: The Complete 1936-1940 Variety, Vocalion, and Okeh Small Group Sessions (disc 7)
*Duke Ellington and His Award Winners: Blues in Orbit (side 1)
*Michael Fornanek Elusion Quartet: Time Like This
*Satoku Fujii/Myra Melford: Under the Water
*Grateful Dead: 1969-06-07 Fillmore West, SF (CDR) "Dark Star"
*Grateful Dead: 1969-06-14 Monterey (CDR) "Dark Star"
*Grateful Dead: 1973-09-12 Williamsburg VA (CDR) (disc 1)
*Langston Hughes/Charles Mingus: Harlem in Vogue
*Allen Lowe and the Constant Sorrow Orchestra: Louis Armstrong's America, Vol. 1 (disc 1)
*Warne Marsh Quartet: Ne Plus Ultra
*Mephista: Black Narcissus
*Ikue Mori/Steve Noble: Prediction and Warning
*David Murray Quartet: Long Goodbye
*Marek Pospieszalski Octet & Zoh Amba: Now!
*Roxy Music: Roxy Music
*Masahiko Satoh/Otomo Yoshihide/Roger Turner: Sea
*Sun Ra and His Inter-Galactic Research Arkestra: Nuits de la Fondation Maeght (sides 11, 12)
*Synapse: Raw
*Henry Threadgill Society Situation Dance Band: 1997-07-12 Den Haag (CDR)
Reading List, Week of 2025-05-11
*Haber, Mark. Lesser Ruins (started)
*Lavezzoli, Peter. The King of All, Sir Duke: Ellington and the Artistic Revolution (started)
*Apollonius Rhodius: Argonautica (ed. and transl. William H. Race) (started/finished)
*Berrigan, Ted. The Sonnets (started/finished)
*Williams, Tad. The Navigator's Children (finished)
*Young, Marguerite. Miss MacIntosh, My Darling (reread/finished)
*Lambert, Eddie. Duke Ellington: A Listener's Guide (reread/selections)
*Mendelson, Cheryl. Home Comforts: The Art and Science of Keeping House (in progress)
Tuesday, May 6, 2025
Playlist, Week of 2025-05-04
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*AcidMothersGuruGuru: Guru Guru Fest 2010
*Sophie Agnel: Song
*Air: Air Time
*Artifacts: …And Then There’s This
*Johann Sebastian Bach: Concertos for Piano And Orchestra Nos. 1–5 & 7 (Gould/Bernstein) (disc 2)
*Tim Berne/Tom Rainey/Gregg Belisle-Chi: Yikes Too (disc 1)
*Blondie: Blondie Singles Collection: 1977-1982 (disc 1)
*Anthony Braxton Quartet: 1975-06-06 Hamburg (CDR)
*John Butcher/John Edwards/Mark Sanders: Last Dream of the Morning
*Frédéric Chopin: Favourite Piano Works (Vladimir Ashkenazy) (disc 1)
*Nels Cline: Consentrik Quartet
*Sylvie Courvoisier/Mary Halvorson: Bone Bells
*Miles Davis Quintet: Miles in France 1963 & 1964: The Bootleg Series, Vol. 8 (disc 3)
*Deerhoof: Noble and Godlike in Ruin
*Jim Denley/Peter Farrar/Dale Gorfinkel: Vents
*Bill Dixon: 17 Musicians in Search of a Sound: Darfur
*Paul Dunmall/Matthew Shipp/Joe Morris/Gerald Cleaver: The Bright Awakening
*Nick Dunston: Colla Voce
*Bob Dylan/Various artists: Theme Time Radio Hour S01 E35 "Women's Names"
*Bob Dylan: Shadows in the Night
*Marc Edwards/Weasel Walter Group: Blood of the Earth
*Duke Ellington and His Orchestra: A Drum Is a Woman (side 1)
*Duke Ellington: Les Girls! The Girls Suite & Toot Suite Premieres (1958-1963)
*Duke Ellington: Anatomy of a Murder
*Duke Ellington: Piano in the Foreground
*Duke Ellington: The Great Paris Concert (disc 1) "Suite Thursday"
*Duke Ellington: The Duke Ellington Centennial Edition: The Complete RCA Victor Recordings (1927-1973) (disc 18) "In the Beginning God"
*Duke Ellington: The Private Collection: Vol. 10, Studio Sessions New York & Chicago 1965, 1966, 1971 "Harlem"
*Duke Ellington: Live at the Berlin Jazz Festival 1969-1973
*Glass Triangle: Blue and Sun-Lights
*Grateful Dead: 1969-05-30 Portland OR (CDR) "Dark Star"
*Grateful Dead: 1969-05-31 Eugene OR (CDR) "Dark Star"
*Grateful Dead: 1969-06-05 Fillmore West, SF (CDR) "Dark Star"
*Grateful Dead: Blues for Allah
*Milford Graves: Bäbi (disc 1)
*Herbie Hancock: Speak Like a Child
*Hasidic New Wave: Jews and the Abstract Truth
*Julius Hemphill: The Boyé Multi-National Crusade for Harmony (disc 1)
*Joe Henderson: The Milestone Years (disc 8)
*Lightnin' Hopkins: Dirty House Blues (disc 1)
*Louis Jordan and His Tympany Five: 1945-1946
*Henry Kaiser/Wadada Leo Smith: Yo Miles!: Upriver (disc 1)
*Charles Mingus and His Jazz Groups: Mingus Dynasty
*New Ting: 2025-04-28 "Brake in Perception" (wav)
*Zeena Parkins/Wobbly: Triplicates
*Marek Pospieszalski Octet & Zoh Amba: Now!
*Ravi Shankar: Three Ragas
*Sly and the Family Stone: There's a Riot Goin' On
*Sun Ra: Jazz by Sun Ra, Vol. 1 [Sun Song]
*Sun Ra: Sound of Joy
*Sun Ra and His Inter-Galactic Research Arkestra: Nuits de la Fondation Maeght (sides 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10)
*Sun Ra: St. Louis Blues: Solo Piano
*Various artists: Anthology of Noise and Electronic Music vol. 3: Third a-chronology 1952-2004 (disc 1)
*Various artists: Nobody Wins: Stax Southern Soul 1968-1975
*Anna Webber: Third Floor People
*Wolf Eyes/Anthony Braxton: Live at Pioneer Works, Red Hook, NY, October 26th 2023
*John Zorn/Chaos Magick: Through the Looking Glass
Reading List, Week of 2025-05-04
*Williams, Tad. The Navigator's Children (started)
*Nabokov, Vladimir. Think, Write, Speak: Uncollected Essays, Reviews, Interviews, and Letters to the Editor (finished)
*Williams, Tad. Into the Narrowdark (finished)
*Lambert, Eddie. Duke Ellington: A Listener's Guide (reread/selections)
*Mendelson, Cheryl. Home Comforts: The Art and Science of Keeping House (in progress)
*Young, Marguerite. Miss MacIntosh, My Darling (reread/in progress)
Tuesday, April 29, 2025
Playlist, Week of 2025-04-27
Reading List, Week of 2025-04-27
Tuesday, April 22, 2025
Playlist, Week of 2025-04-20
I barely go for Christmas music at Christmas time, much less the rest of the year, but damn if Ellington and Strayhorn's version of the Nutcracker cuts through all that crap and swings mightily... I can take that all year round... "Princess Blue" is a relatively minor piece, pleasant enough while it's on, but I'm having a hard time getting a melodic handle on it... A solid free jazz session from New Ting, with Fred McGann back on keyboard (it's been a while)... Meanwhile, the "Dark Stars" are getting longer...
Playlist 2025-04-21:*[Ahmed]: Giant Beauty (disc 5)
*Art Ensemble of Chicago: 1977-01-28 Philadelphia (CDR)
*Johann Sebastian Bach: The Well-Tempered Clavier (Glenn Gould) (disc 3)
*Beatles: Revolver (Super Deluxe 4 LP Edition 2022) (side 7)
*Beatles: The Alternate Anthology Part 1 (disc 2)
*Beatles: The Alternate Anthology Part 2 (disc 1)
*Anthony Braxton: The Complete Arista Recordings of Anthony Braxton (disc 4) "Opus 76 (Version 2)"
*Gerald Cleaver: 22/23
*Gerald Cleaver: The Process
*John Coltrane: 1966-07-02 Newport (CDR) "Leo"
*Sylvie Courvoisier: 2025-03-29 Big Ears, Knoxville TN (CDR)
*Miles Davis Quintet: Miles in France 1963 & 1964: The Bootleg Series, Vol. 8 (disc 2)
*Bob Dylan/Various artists: Theme Time Radio Hour S01 E32 "Moon"
*Duke Ellington: 1938 (side 3)
*Duke Ellington and His Orchestra: Newport 1958 "Princess Blue"
*Duke Ellington: Anatomy of a Murder
*Duke Ellington: Les Girls! The Girls Suite & Toot Suite Premieres (1958-1963)
*Duke Ellington: Duke Ellington Live! At the Newport Jazz Festival '59 "Idiom '59"
*Duke Ellington and His Orchestra: Three Suites "The Nutcracker Suite"
*Duke Ellington and His Orchestra: Three Suites "Peer Gynt Suites Nos. 1 and 2"
*Michael Formanek Quartet: Pre-Apocalyptic
*Michael Formanek Quartet: Other Zones
*Gang of Four: Solid Gold (side 2)
*Gentle Giant: Sampler (CDR compilation)
*Gentle Giant: Interview
*Grateful Dead: 1969-04-22 Boston (CDR) "Dark Star"
*Grateful Dead: 1969-04-23 Boston (CDR) "Dark Star"
*Grateful Dead: Dick's Picks 26 (1969-04-26/27) (disc 2) "Dark Star"
*Grateful Dead: 1969-05-07 San Francisco (CDR) "Dark Star"
*Darius Jones: fLuXkit Vancouver (i̶t̶s̶ suite but sacred)
*Darius Jones: Legend of e'Boi (The Hypervigilant Eye)
*Led Zeppelin: Led Zeppelin II
*Brandon Lopez: Nada Sagrada
*New Ting: 2025-04-14 "Heat Pad" (wav)
*Zeena Parkins/Wobbly: Triplicates
*Ivo Perelman: The Art of the Improv Trio, Vol. 3
*Ivo Perelman: The Art of the Improv Trio, Vol. 5
*Ivo Perelman: The Art of the Improv Trio, Vol. 6
*Wadada Leo Smith: Big Ears, Knoxville TN (CDR)
*Sun Ra: Disco 3000 (Complete Milan Concert 1978) (discs 1, 2)
*Sun Ra: Uncharted Passages
*Cecil Taylor Workshop Ensemble: Melancholy "Sphere No. 1"
*Various artists: Anthology of Noise and Electronic Music vol. 2: Second a-chronology 1936-2003 (disc 2)
*Frank Zappa: Apostrophe (50th Anniversary Ed.) (disc 3)
Reading List, Week of 2025-04-20
Slow but steady...Reading List 2025-04-21:
*Lambert, Eddie. Duke Ellington: A Listener's Guide (reread/selections)
*Mendelson, Cheryl. Home Comforts: The Art and Science of Keeping House (in progress)
*Nabokov, Vladimir. Think, Write, Speak: Uncollected Essays, Reviews, Interviews, and Letters to the Editor (in progress)
*Williams, Tad. Empire of Grass (in progress)
*Young, Marguerite. Miss MacIntosh, My Darling (reread/in progress)
Tuesday, April 15, 2025
Playlist, Week of 2025-04-13
Reading List, Week of 2025-04-13
*Nabokov, Vladimir. Think, Write, Speak: Uncollected Essays, Reviews, Interviews, and Letters to the Editor (started)
*Williams, Tad. Empire of Grass (started)
*Eco, Umberto, and Jean-Claude Carrière. This Is Not the End of the Book (transl. Polly McLean) (finished)
*Williams, Tad. The Witchwood Crown (finished)
*Lambert, Eddie. Duke Ellington: A Listener's Guide (reread/selections)
*Mendelson, Cheryl. Home Comforts: The Art and Science of Keeping House (in progress)
*Young, Marguerite. Miss MacIntosh, My Darling (reread/in progress)
Tuesday, April 8, 2025
Playlist, Week of 2025-04-06
All praise to Matana Roberts and her Coin Coin project.... this just keeps growing in stature in my mind the more I listen to it.. my current favorite is Vol. 2, Mississippi Moonchile... the husky baritone voice of Jeremiah Abiah, the sweet saxophone lines, the perfect drumming of Tomas Fujiwara, the thorny embellishments on piano from Shoko Nagai, all woven together in a moving and grooving testament to the spirit and endurance of the women portrayed...and Matana Robert's voice is perfect for this, in both narrating and singing... Thanks to Daniel Barbiero for alerting me to the best version of "Seastones" (London 1974) in his overview of the piece... "Dark Star" continues to morph, but I gotta say: I'm waiting for Mickey to leave... the guiro's not doing it for me...
Playlist 2025-04-07:*Muhal Richard Abrams: Young at Heart/Wise in Time (side 1)
*[Ahmed]: Wood Blues
*[Ahmed]: Giant Beauty (disc 3)
*Air: Air Song
*Air: Live Air
*Louis Armstrong: Portrait of the Artist as a Young Man 1923-1934 (disc 4)
*Art Ensemble of Chicago: 1975-09-09 Five Spot, NYC (CDR) (discs 2, 3)
*Art Ensemble of Chicago: 1975-09-11 Five Spot, NYC (CDR) (disc 1)
*Beach Boys: Love You
*John Blum Quartet feat. Marshall Allen: Deep Space
*Anthony Braxton: Ninetet (Yoshi's) 1997, Vol. 4 (disc 2)
*Kim Cass: Levs
*Clear Frame: Clear Frame
*Gerald Cleaver & Violet Hour: Live At Firehouse 12
*Patsy Cline: Live at the Cimarron Ballroom
*Kris Davis Trio: Run the Gauntlet
*Bob Dylan: The Bootleg Series Vol. 1-3 (disc 3)
*Bob Dylan/Various artists: Theme Time Radio Hour S01 E30 "Thanksgiving Leftovers"
*Duke Ellington and His Orchestra: The Treasury Shows, Vol. 11 (disc 2)
*Duke Ellington and His Orchestra: Masterpieces by Ellington (side 1)
*Duke Ellington: Anatomy of a Murder
*Duke Ellington: Les Girls! The Girls Suite & Toot Suite Premieres (1958-1963)
*Duke Ellington and His Award Winners: Blues in Orbit (sides 1, 2)
*Duke Ellington and His Orchestra: Concert in the Virgin Islands (side 1)
*Exploding Star Orchestra: Stars Have Shapes
*Grateful Dead: 1969-04-13 Boulder CO (CDR) "Dark Star"
*Grateful Dead: 1969-04-15 Omaha NE (CDR) "Dark Star"
*Grateful Dead: 1969-04-17 St. Louis (Download Series Vol. 12) "Dark Star"
*Grateful Dead: 1969-04-20 Worcester MA (CDR) "Dark Star"
*Grateful Dead: 1974-09-11 London (CDR) "Seastones"
*Happy the Man: "Better Late…" (side 1)
*Andrew Hill Sextet Plus 10: A Beautiful Day, Revisited (disc 1)
*Earl Hines: Giants of Jazz (disc 2)
*Billie Holiday: The Complete Billie Holiday on Verve 1945-1959 (disc 2)
*Damon Locks Black Monument Ensemble: NOW
*London Brew: London Brew (disc 1)
*Jimmie Lunceford: The Complete Jimmie Lunceford Decca Sessions (disc 7)
*John McLaughlin: Where Fortune Smiles
*Sergio Mendes: Quiet Nights
*Matt Mitchell: Phalanx Ambassadors
*Roscoe Mitchell Sound Ensemble: Live in Detroit (side 3)
*Hank Mobley: The Complete Blue Note Hank Mobley Fifties Sessions (disc 1)
*Louis Moholo Moholo Quartet: 4 Blokes
*Ikeu Mori: In Light of Shadows
*David Murray Octet: Picasso
*OOIOO: Nijimusi
*Paradoxical Frog: Union
*Charlie Parker/Dizzy Gillespie: Bird and Diz
*Charlie Parker: The Complete Legendary Rockland Palace Concert 1952 (disc 1)
*Charlie Parker: Live Bird Is the Best Bird (CDR compilation) (discs 1, 2)
*Zeena Parkins/Ikue Mori: Phantom Orchard
*Annette Peacock: An Acrobat's Heart
*Jean-Luc Ponty: Imaginary Voyage (sides 1, 2)
*Jean-Luc Ponty: Enigmatic Ocean (sides 1, 2)
*Bobby Previte/Jamie Saft/Nels Cline: Music from the Early 21st Century
*Flora Purim: Everyday Everynight
*Sergei Rachmaninov: Piano Concerto No. 2 (Lang Lang)
*Matana Roberts: Coin Coin Chapter Two: Mississippi Moonchile
*Matana Roberts: Coin Coin Chapter Three: River Run Thee (side 1)
*Sly and the Family Stone: The Essential Sly & the Family Stone (disc 1)
*Sly and the Family Stone: Dance to the Music
*Sly and the Family Stone: The Woodstock Experience (disc 2)
*Sun Ra and His Arkestra: Jazz in Silhouette (Expanded Edition) (side 3)
*Sun Ra: Uncharted Passages
*Sun Ra: Solo Works (CDR compilation)
*Cecil Taylor: In Transition [Jazz Advance] (side 1)
*Tower of Power: 1978-06-04 Much More, Richmond VA (cassette)
*McCoy Tyner/Joe Henderson: Forces of Nature: Live at Slugs' (disc 2)
*UYA: 1993-10-14 Betty! The Butter! (wav)
*Vandermark 5: Beat Reader
*Various artists: That Devilin' Tune: A Jazz History (1895-1927) (Vol. I, disc 9)
*Various artists: Anthology of Noise and Electronic Music vol. 2: Second a-chronology 1936-2003 (disc 1)
*Ben Webster: Ballads (side 1)
*Frank Zappa: Apostrophe (50th Anniversary Ed.) (disc 1)
*Frank Zappa: Nostalgia (boot CDR)
Reading List, Week of 2025-04-06
*Eco, Umberto, and Jean-Claude Carrière. This Is Not the End of the Book (transl. Polly McLean) (started)
*Williams, Tad. The Witchwood Crown (started)
*Moore, Alan. Writing for Comics (started/finished)
*Threadgill, Henry, and Brent Hayes Edwards. Easily Slip into Another World (finished)
*Lambert, Eddie. Duke Ellington: A Listener's Guide (reread/selections)
*Mendelson, Cheryl. Home Comforts: The Art and Science of Keeping House (in progress)
*Young, Marguerite. Miss MacIntosh, My Darling (reread/in progress)
Thursday, April 3, 2025
The Magic Jukebox: Non-Breakable Fun
It's about that time again: time for another installment of a recent Magic Jukebox shuffled playlist! It's been about a year and a half since the last one...
1. Prince - All the Critics Love U in Montreux2. Jill Jones - G-Spot (extended version)
3. Johnny Winter - I Hate Everybody
4. Stock, Hausen, & Walkman - 0898
5. Charlie Parker - Cheers
6. Duke Ellington - Happy Anatomy
7. Kelley Stoltz - Underwater's Where the Action Is
8. Frank Zappa - Dense Slight
9. Duke Ellington - Sweet & Pungent
10. Rolling Stones - 2,000 Light Year from Home
11. Tower of Power - This Time It's Real
12. Supremes - I Hear a Symphony
13. Hank Williams - A House Without Love
14. Chuck Brown & the Soul Searchers - It Don't Mean a Thing
15. Sonic Youth - The Sprawl
16. Olivia Tremor Control - Mystery
17. Beatles - Roll Over Beethoven
18. Beck - Minus
19. Tito Puente - Witch Doctor's Nightmare
20. Parliament - Let's Play House
21. Willie Hobbs - (Please) Don't Let Me Down
22. Sparks - Change
23. Mary Wells - (Hey You) Set My Soul on Fire
24. James Brown - Oh Baby Don't You Weep
25. Mary Wells - I'll Be Available
26. Frank Zappa - Dog Breath
27. Sly & the Family Stone - Love City
28. Beach Boys - The Girl from New York City
29. Link Wray & the Wraymen - Raw-Hide
30. Elvis Costello & the Attractions - Almost Blue
31. Sparks - Please Baby Please
32. Jackie Wilson - Singing a Song
33. Duke Ellington - Ko-Ko
34. John Zorn/Insurrection - The Recognitions
35. Isley Brothers - I Must Be Losing My Touch
36. Roscoe Mitchell Quintet - For Cynthia
37. Duke Ellington - Happy as the Day Is Long
38. Prince - Illusion, Coma, Pimp, & Circumstance
39. Ruby Johnson - I'd Better Check on Myself
40. Public Enemy - Fight the Power
41. Simulacrum - Scene 3: And to the Brimstone, Fire
42. Paul McCartney - Honey Hush
43. Parliament - The Goose
44. Beach Boys - Little Pad (A Cappella)
45. Captain Beefheart - Floppy Boot Stomp
46. Duke Ellington - Tutti for Cootie (live Paris)
47. Rodger Coleman/Sam Byrd - Nine Thirds
48. Sun Ra - Easy to Love
49. Elvis Presley - Lawdy, Miss Clawdy
50. King Crimson - Larks' Tongues in Aspic (Pt. II) (live Texas)
51. Andrew Hill - Sideways
52. Little Richard - Ready Teddy
53. Rolling Stones - 19th Nervous Breakdown (alt take)
54. Bob Marley - Mr. Talkative
55. Beatles - Eleanor Rigby
56. Beatles - Baby It's You (BBC)
57. Sun Ra - I Struck a Match on the Moon
58. Bo Carter - Please Warm My Weiner
59. Duke Ellington - Midriff (Bethlehem)
60. Minutemen - Search
63. Opeth - The Devil's Orchard
64. Eddie Holman - This Can't Be True
65. Easy Lovin' (Star Search Demo)
66. Wig Drop - Looking with My Eyes
67. Duke Ellington - Madness in Great Ones
68. Beatles - No Reply
69. Clyde McPhatter/Drifters - Money Honey
70. Guided By Voices - Skin Parade
71. High Llamas - Almond Return
72. Duke Ellington - Sonnet to Hank Cinq
73. Jelly Roll Morton & His Red Hot Peppers - Oil Well
74. Sam Cooke - That's Where It's At
75. Beach Boys - Forever (A Capella)
76. Paul McCartney - Run Devil Run
77. Fred Astaire - Shall We Dance?
78. King Crimson - Larks' Tongues in Aspic (Pt. IV) (live Paris)
79. Jefferson Pilot - USB 3
80. Lewis Taylor - When Will I Ever Learn 2
81. Johnny Daye - I Need Somebody
82. Pavement - Cream of Gold
83. Animal Collective - Bluish
84. Beach Boys - Sail Plane Song
85. Duke Ellington - Madame Will Drop Her Shawl
86. Lesley Gore - You Don't Own Me
87. Beatles - I'll Get You
88. Thinking Plague - Behold the Man
89. Major Organ and the Adding Machine - Barry's Lung
90. Bob Brady & the Con Chords - Everybody's Going to the Love-In
91. Gang of Four - The Republic
92. Portuguese Joe - Teenage Riot
93. Jimi Hendrix - All Along the Watchtower
94. Duke Ellington - Me and You
95. Art Ensemble of Chicago - Till Autumn
96. Beatles Remixers Group - Noticed I Was Late
97. Elvis Presley - Just Because
98. Turbans - When You Dance
99. Billy J. Kramer & the Dakotas - Bad to Me
100. Opeth - The Lines in My Hand
Tuesday, April 1, 2025
Playlist, Week of 2025-03-30
Reading List, Week of 2025-03-30
*Threadgill, Henry, and Brent Hayes Edwards. Easily Slip into Another World (started)
*Williams, Tad. The Burning Man. In Legends, ed. Robert Silverberg (started/finished)
*Williams, Tad. The Heart of What Was Lost (started/finished)
*Eco, Umberto. Confessions of a Young Novelist (finished)
*Williams, Tad. To Green Angel Tower (finished)
*Lambert, Eddie. Duke Ellington: A Listener's Guide (reread/selections)
*Mendelson, Cheryl. Home Comforts: The Art and Science of Keeping House (in progress)
*Young, Marguerite. Miss MacIntosh, My Darling (reread/in progress)
Henry Threadgill on John Gilmore
He was playing some very advanced harmonic and rhythmic information on the saxophone. His rhythmic approach was amazing. John used to tell me about practicing out of drum books, working on rhythmic patterns. ... It gives you a grounding in rhythmic patterns that you wouldn't ordinarily have, playing a melodic instrument. Gilmore's playing was very rhythmic playing. I don't meant that it was necessarily always busy, even if at times it was. It's more that there were very unusual rhythmic patterns in his playing. A lot of people knew about his musical thinking; Coltrane used to come and listen to him play. Gilmore was a highly sophisticated player, and totally original. (Threadgill, Easily Slip into Another World, Knopf 2023, p. 37)
Monday, March 24, 2025
Playlist, Week of 2025-03-23
Playlist 2025-03-24:
*Louis Armstrong: From the Original Okehs Vol. 3 1928/29
*Average White Band: Average White Band
*Black Host: Life in the Sugar Candle Mines "Hover"
*Blood Incantation: Absolute Elsewhere
*Blue Notes: Blue Notes for Mongezi (disc 2)
*Blue Notes: Blue Notes in Concert
*Anthony Braxton: 2 Compositions (Ensemble) 1989/1991
*Anthony Braxton Quartet: Standards (Brussels) 2006 (discs 2, 3)
*Patricia Brennan Septet: Breaking Stretch
*Kris Davis: Diatom Ribbons Live at the Village Vanguard (disc 1)
*Kris Davis Trio: 2022-05-13 NYC (CDR)
*Miles Davis: 1972-09-14 Boston (CDR)
*Miles Davis: In Concert (sides 1, 2)
*Nick Dunston: Atlantic Extraction
*Nick Dunston: Colla Voce
*Bob Dylan/Various artists: Theme Time Radio Hour S01 E26 "Halloween"
*Duke Ellington: The Private Collection, Vol. 1: Studio Sessions Chicago, 1956
*Duke Ellington and His Orchestra: Newport 1958
*Duke Ellington/Johnny Hodges: Back to Back
*Duke Ellington/Johnny Hodges: Side by Side
*Duke Ellington and His Orchestra: The Ellington Suites "The Queen's Suite"
*Marvin Gaye: I Want You (Deluxe Edition) (discs 1, 2)
*Grateful Dead: The Complete Fillmore West 1969 (disc 8) "Dark Star"
*Grateful Dead: 1969-03-15 San Francisco (CDR) "Dark Star"
*Grateful Dead: 1969-03-22 Pasadena (CDR) "Dark Star"
*Grateful Dead: 1969-03-28 Modesto, CA (CDR) "Dark Star"
*Grateful Dead: 1969-03-29 Las Vegas (CDR) "Dark Star"
*Grateful Dead: 1974-09-11 London (CDR) "Seastones"
*Grateful Dead: 1980-09-04 Providence RI (Download Series Vol. 7) (disc 3)
*Mary Halvorson Octet: Away with You
*Mary Halvorson Octet: 2018-11-12 Venice (CDR)
*Henry Kaiser/Wadada Leo Smith: Yo Miles!: Sky Garden (disc 1)
*Janel Leppin: Ensemble Volcanic Ash: To March Is to Love
*Little Feat: Waiting for Columbus (disc 1)
*Locals: Play the Music of Anthony Braxton
*Brandon Lopez: Nada Sagrada
*Allen Lowe and the Constant Sorrow Orchestra: Louis Armstrong's America, Vol. 2 (discs 1, 2)
*Brian Marsella’s iMAGiNARiUM: Mediatas (disc 3)
*Charles Mingus and His Jazz Groups: Mingus Dynasty
*Matt Mitchell: Vista Accumulation (discs 1, 2)
*Roscoe Mitchell: Solo [3] (disc 3)
*Roscoe Mitchell: One Head Four People
*Ikue Mori: Obelisk
*New Ting: 2025-03-03: "Cleaning Up the Corners" (wav)
*Opeth: The Last Will and Testament
*Ozric Tentacles: Jurassic Shift
*Evan Parker Electro-Acoustic Ensemble: Warszawa 2019
*Red Trio/John Butcher: Summer Skyshift
*Matana Roberts: Coin Coin Chapter Two: Mississippi Moonchile
*Ravi Shankar: Live: Ravi Shankar at the Monterey International Pop Festival
*Sharp/Lopez/Kaiser/Amendola: Minus X: A Tribute to the Music of Iannis Xenakis (disc 1)
*Matthew Shipp Trio: New Concepts in Piano Trio Jazz
*UYA: 1993-08-21 Office Facility Love Nest Rug (wav)
*UYA: 1993-09-13 Intervallic Shapes (wav)
*UYA: 1993-09-19 Off the Corner (wav)
*Various artists: That Devilin' Tune (Vol. I, disc 7)
*Anna Webber: simpletrio2000
*Webber/Morris Big Band: Both Are True
*Ben Webster: Ballads (sides 1, 2)
*Weird of Mouth: Weird of Mouth
Reading List, Week of 2025-03-23
*Eco, Umberto. Confessions of a Young Novelist (started)
*Lowe, Allen. Turn Me Loose White Man, or, Appropriating Culture: How to Listen to American Music, 1900-1960, Vol. 2 (finished)
*Lambert, Eddie. Duke Ellington: A Listener's Guide (reread/selections)
*Mendelson, Cheryl. Home Comforts: The Art and Science of Keeping House (in progress)
*Williams, Tad. To Green Angel Tower (in progress)
*Young, Marguerite. Miss MacIntosh, My Darling (reread/in progress)