Playlist, Week of 2025-01-26

It's taking me a while to absorb Giant Beauty, because I've never heard anything quite like it... I know Pat Thomas mostly from his work with Tony Oxley... this music develops with a keen sense of patience and determination... Patient listening is also rewarded with Tyshawn Sorey's The Susceptible Now... and then there's Ellington, always Ellington... I am rereading portions of Eddie Lambert's Duke Ellington: A Listener's Guide, and using it to guide some deep listening, focusing on the suites and longer compositions like "The Tattooed Bride"... The later versions of "Dark Star" from the '90s are a mixed bag, but there are definitely moments of beauty there, especially if Mickey Hart refrains from being so plodding and heavy on the bass drum... love the double drums but nothing matches the subtlety and driving excitement of Bill Kreutzmann on his own in the '70s... eventually I plan to work my way through every version of "Dark Star," just for the hell (or heaven) of it...

Playlist 2025-01-27:

*[Ahmed]: Giant Beauty (discs 1, 2)

*Zoh Amba: Bhakti

*Beatles: Abbey Road (side 2)

*Black Host: Life in the Sugar Candle Mines

*Anthony Braxton: Ninetet (Yoshi's) 1997, Vol. 3 (disc 1)

*Anthony Braxton + Duke Ellington: Concept Of Freedom (Dahinden/Kleeb/Polisoidis/Höldrich)

*Anthony Braxton Saxophone Quartet: Sax QT (Lorraine) 2022 (disc 4)

*Can: Ege Bamyasi

*Patsy Cline: The Patsy Cline Collection (disc 1)

*Miles Davis Quintet: Miles in France 1963 & 1964: The Bootleg Series, Vol. 8 (disc 1)

*Miles Davis: Miles at the Fillmore: Miles Davis 1970: The Bootleg Series Vol. 3 (disc 3)

*Miles Davis: 1975-01-22 Tokyo (CDR)

*Bob Dylan/Various artists: Theme Time Radio Hour S01 E18 "Radio"

*Earth Wind and Fire: All 'n All (side 1)

*Duke Ellington: The Great Chicago Concerts (disc 1) "Deep South Suite"

*Duke Ellington: Ellington Uptown "The Liberian Suite"

*Duke Ellington and His Orchestra: Masterpieces by Ellington (side 3)

*Duke Ellington: Liederhall Stuttgart 1967

*Kate Gentile: Find Letter X (disc 3)

*George: Letters to George (sides 1, 2)

*Tilahun Gessesse: Ethiopiques 17

*Stan Getz: The Complete Roost Recordings (disc 2)

*Grateful Dead: 1970-02-05 Fillmore West, SF (CDR)

*Earl Hines: Giants of Jazz (disc 2)

*Joseph Holbrooke Trio: The Moat Studio Recordings (disc 1)

*King Crimson: The Power to Believe

*Ingrid Laubrock: Sleepthief

*Allen Lowe and the Constant Sorrow Orchestra: In the Dark (disc 1)

*Allen Lowe and the Constant Sorrow Orchestra: Louis Armstrong's America, Vol. 1 (disc 2)

*Allen Lowe and the Constant Sorrow Orchestra: Louis Armstrong's America, Vol. 2 (disc 1)

*Jimmie Lunceford: The Complete Jimmie Lunceford Decca Sessions (disc 2)

*Brian Marsella’s iMAGiNARiUM: Mediatas (disc 2)

*Jackie McLean: Jacknife

*Matt Mitchell: Vista Accumulation (disc 2)

*Roscoe Mitchell: More Cutouts

*Roscoe Mitchell: Solo [3] (disc 1)

*Tyler Mitchell Octet: Sun Ra's Journey featuring Marshall Allen

*Jelly Roll Morton: The Saga of Mister Jelly Lord (side 11)

*Tony Oxley Quintet: The Baptised Traveller

*Zeena Parkins/Ikue Mori: Phantom Orchard

*Mario Pavone Sextet: Deez to Blues

*Tom Rainey Trio: 2013-10-19 Brooklyn NY (CDR) track 6

*Tyshawn Sorey Trio: The Susceptible Now

*Sun Ra and His Solar-Myth Arkestra: The Solar​-​Myth Approach, Vol. 1

*Sun Ra: Lights on a Satellite: Live at the Left Bank (side 2)

*Sun Ra Arkestra under the Direction of Marshall Allen: Lights on a Satellite (side 3)

*Cecil Taylor: Erzulie Maketh Scent

*Lennie Tristano: The Complete Atlantic Recordings of Lennie Tristano, Lee Konitz, & Warne Marsh (disc 1)

*Various artists: Songs from Four LPs and One CD (cassette compilation) (sides A, B)

*Webber/Morris Big Band: Both Are True

*Mary Lou Williams Trio: Free Spirits

*Neil Young: Zuma

Reading List, Week of 2025-01-26

Reading List 2024-01-27:

*Buxton, Kira Jane. Hollow Kingdom (started)
*Mueller, Darren. At the Vanguard of Vinyl: A Cultural History of the Long-Playing Record in Jazz (started)
*Perry, Thomas. Pro Bono (started/finished)
*Dunn, Daisy. Catullus' Bedspread: The Life of Rome's Most Erotic Poet (finished)
*Porter, Jane. The Scottish Chiefs (finished)
*Mendelson, Cheryl. Home Comforts: The Art and Science of Keeping House (in progress)
*Young, Marguerite. Miss MacIntosh, My Darling (reread/in progress)

Playlist, Week of 2025-01-19

Lots of great new music out there, but I can't seem to drag myself away from "Pharaoh's Dance"... Find myself getting overwhelmed these days... only thing to do is keep listening (and playing)... Between Patricia Brennan's Breaking Stretch, Allen Lowe's Louis Armstrong's America, [Ahmed]'s Giant Beauty, Jefferson Pilot's Recordeo, Anthony Braxton's Sax QT (Lorraine) 2022, John Blum's Deep Space, and Kris Davis's Run the Gauntlet, 2024 was a damn good year for great music... 

Playlist 2025-01-20:

*Black Host: Life in the Sugar Candle Mines

*Blood Incantation: Absolute Elsewhere

*John Blum Quartet feat. Marshall Allen: Deep Space

*Anthony Braxton: Braxton Quartet (San Jose), 1976 "Comp. 50" (streaming) 

*Anthony Braxton Saxophone Quartet: Sax QT (Lorraine) 2022 (disc 3)

*Patricia Brennan Septet: Breaking Stretch

*Dustin Carlson: Air Ceremony

*Miles Davis: Filles de Kilimanjaro

*Miles Davis Quintet: 1967-10-31 Stockholm (CDR)

*Miles Davis Quintet: 1967-11-04 Berlin (CDR)

*Miles Davis: The Complete Bitches Brew Sessions (disc 1)

*Miles Davis: 1973-06-19 Tokyo (DVD)

*Miles Davis: 1973-10-27 Stockholm (DVD)

*Bob Dylan: New Morning

*Bob Dylan/Various artists: Theme Time Radio Hour S01 E19 "The Bible"

*Duke Ellington: Liederhall Stuttgart 1967

*Agustí Fernández Ensemble: Via Augusta

*Kate Gentile: Find Letter X (disc 2)

*Grateful Dead: Dick's Jams (CDR) (disc 1)

*John Greaves: Songs

*Mary Halvorson: Belladonna

*Earl Hines: Giants of Jazz (disc 1)

*Bobby Hutcherson: Classic Bobby Hutcherson Blue Note Sessions 1963-1970 (discs 5, 6, 7)

*Last Exit: Iron Path (side 1)

*Ingrid Laubrock/Tom Rainey: Brink

*Allen Lowe and the Constant Sorrow Orchestra: Louis Armstrong's America, Vol. 1 (disc 1)

*Allen Lowe and the Constant Sorrow Orchestra: Louis Armstrong's America, Vol. 2 (discs 1, 2)

*Brian Marsella’s iMAGiNARiUM: Mediatas (disc 1)

*Matt Mitchell: Vista Accumulation (disc 1)

*Lee Morgan: The Sidewinder 

*David Murray Octet: Picasso

*Opeth: The Last Will and Testament

*Jeff Parker/ETA IVtet: The Way Out of Easy

*Tom Rainey Trio: Hotel Grief "Hotel Grief"

*Sun Ra: Nuits de la Fondation Maeght Vol. 1

*Sun Ra: Haverford College, Jan. 25, 1980

*Cecil Taylor: In East-Berlin (disc 1)

*McCoy Tyner/Joe Henderson: Forces of Nature: Live at Slugs' (disc 1)

*UMO Jazz Orchestra: UMO Plays the Music of Muhal Richard Abrams

*Various artists: Turtle Humperdink Tender Load (cassette compilation) (side B)

*Various artists: WSAM 2024 Mix of Odds and Ends (CDR compilation)

*Weird of Mouth: Weird of Mouth

*Hank Williams: The Original Singles Collection Plus (disc 2)

*John Zorn et al.: Environment for Sextet

*John Zorn/Chaos Magick/Simulacrum: 2024-03-03 NYC (CDR)

*John Zorn: Homenaje a Remedios Varo

*John Zorn/Chaos Magick: Parrhesiastes

Reading List, Week of 2025-01-19

Reading List 2024-01-20:

*Burns, Charles. Final Cut (started/finished)
*Parker, T. Jefferson. Desperation Reef (started/finished)
*Dunn, Daisy. Catullus' Bedspread: The Life of Rome's Most Erotic Poet (in progress)
*Mendelson, Cheryl. Home Comforts: The Art and Science of Keeping House (in progress)
*Porter, Jane. The Scottish Chiefs (in progress)
*Young, Marguerite. Miss MacIntosh, My Darling (reread/in progress)

 

Playlist, Week of 2025-01-12

Any doubts about the monumental greatness of Joe Henderson should be dispelled once and for all by this great release of a 1966 Slug's show with McCoy Tyner... Henderson is simply incredible, and Jack DeJohnette is right behind him every step of the way, playing more like Elvin Jones than I've ever heard him before.. 

Playlist 2025-01-13:

*Muhal Richard Abrams: FamilyTalk
*AMM III: It Had Been an Ordinary Enough Day in Pueblo, Colorado "Radio Activity"
*Average White Band: Average White Band
*Johann Sebastian Bach: Concertos for Piano And Orchestra Nos. 1–5 & 7 (Gould/Bernstein) (disc 2)
*Anthony Braxton Saxophone Quartet: Sax QT (Lorraine) 2022 (disc 2)
*Patricia Brennan Septet: Breaking Stretch
*Stephan Crump: Slow Water
*Kris Davis: Massive Threads
*Miles Davis: Black Beauty: Miles Davis at Fillmore West (side 1)
*Miles Davis: The Cellar Door Sessions 1970 (disc 1)
*Miles Davis: The Complete On the Corner Sessions (disc 2)
*Miles Davis: Agharta (disc 2)
*Miles Davis: Pangaea (sides 1, 2, 3, 4)
*Duke Ellington: The Complete Capitol Recordings of Duke Ellington (disc 2)
*Duke Ellington: The Afro-Eurasian Eclipse
*Gentle Giant: Octopus
*Gentle Giant: The Power and the Glory
*Mary Halvorson's Code Girl: Artlessly Falling
*Herbie Hancock: Mwandishi: The Complete Warner Bros. Recordings (disc 2)
*Dave Holland New Quartet: 2024-09-14 Santa Fe (CDR) (disc 2)
*Bobby Hutcherson: Classic Bobby Hutcherson Blue Note Sessions 1963-1970 (disc 4)
*Jefferson Pilot: Recordeo
*Korekyojinn: Isotope
*Allen Lowe and the Constant Sorrow Orchestra: Louis Armstrong's America, Vol. 1 (discs 1, 2)
*Jimmie Lunceford: The Complete Jimmie Lunceford Decca Sessions (disc 1)
*Massacre: Meltdown
*Rob Mazurek/Exploding Star Orchestra: Live at the Adler Planetarium
*Jackie McLean: Consequence
*Roscoe Mitchell: More Cutouts
*Roscoe Mitchell/Brus Trio: After Fallen Leaves
*Roscoe Mitchell and the Note Factory: The Bad Guys
*Thelonious Monk: Solo Monk
*Ikue Mori: Hex Kitchen
*Ikue Mori: Class Insecta
*Opeth: The Last Will and Testament
*Rascals: The Island of Real
*Matthew Shipp Trio: New Concepts in Piano Trio Jazz
*Tyshawn Sorey Trio: The Susceptible Now
*Bruce Springsteen: The Wild, the Innocent, and the E Street Shuffle
*Sun Ra: Singles: The Definitive 45s Collection 1952-1991 (discs 2, 3)
*Sun Ra and His Solar Arkestra: Other Planes of There (sides 1, 2)
*Sun Ra and His Arkestra: Thunder of the Gods (side 2)
*Cecil Taylor: Garden (disc 2)
*Cecil Taylor Orchestra Humane (Ubuntu): 2005-12-18 (CDR) (disc 1)
*McCoy Tyner/Joe Henderson: Forces of Nature: Live at Slugs' (disc 2)
*UYA: 1993-02-19 Funk Don't Shop at Sears (wav)
*UYA: 1993-02-21 Butter Unit 5 (wav)
*Various artists: Ra/Trane (cassette compilation) (sides A, B)
*Various artists: Turtle Humperdink Tender Load (cassette compilation) (side A)
*Hank Williams: The Original Singles Collection Plus (disc 1)
*Xtatika: Tongue Bath
*Lester Young: The Aladdin Sessions (side 2)
*John Zorn: Heaven and Earth Magick

Reading List, Week of 2025-01-12

Reading List 2025-01-13:

*Dunn, Daisy. Catullus' Bedspread: The Life of Rome's Most Erotic Poet (started)

*Porter, Jane. The Scottish Chiefs (started)

*Harrow, Alix E. Starling House (started/finished)

*Dylan, Bob. The Philosophy of Modern Song (finished)

*Harrow, Alix E. The Once and Future Witches (finished)

*Mendelson, Cheryl. Home Comforts: The Art and Science of Keeping House (in progress)

*Young, Marguerite. Miss MacIntosh, My Darling (reread/in progress)

 

Easy to Accept

The radio was on from beyond a wall and the sound was coming in through static. The Beatles were singing, "Do You Want to Know a Secret." They were so easy to accept, so solid. (Bob Dylan, Chronicles, Vol. 1, Simon & Schuster 2004, p. 204)

 

Dylan on Cecil Taylor

Of course I shouldn't have been surprised, but still it was nice to see...

It was mostly a jazz coffeehouse where Cecil Taylor played a lot. I played there with Cecil once. We played "The Water Is Wide," the old folk song. Cecil could play regular piano if he wanted to. (Bob Dylan, Chronicles, Vol. 1, Simon & Schuster 2004, p. 74)

 

Playlist, Week of 2025-01-05

Had a nice listening session last night, starting off with Hatfield and the North's first album, with Geoff Leigh's sax work on "Rifferama" leading me to Henry Cow's first record, and from both of them, back to Zappa's Uncle Meat... you can make a direct connection between "Son of 'There's No Place Like Homerton'" and "The Legend of the Golden Arches"...

Playlist 2025-01-06:

*B-52s: Cosmic Thing

*Johann Sebastian Bach: Concertos for Piano And Orchestra Nos. 1–5 & 7 (Gould/Bernstein) (disc 1)

*Beatles: The Early Beatles (mono 2024) (sides 1, 2)

*Beatles: The Beatles' Second Album (mono 2024) (sides 1, 2)

*Beatles: Something New (mono 2024) (sides 1, 2)

*Blood Incantation: Absolute Elsewhere

*Borderlands Trio: Rewilder (disc 2)

*Anthony Braxton with the Creative Jazz Orchestra: Composition No. 175, Composition No. 126 Trillium-Dialogues M (disc 1)

*Clash: London Calling

*Rosemary Clooney and Duke Ellington and His Orchestra: Blue Rose

*Rodger Coleman and Sam Byrd: 2015-05-14 Nashville (wav) track 3

*Marilyn Crispell: Live at Mills College, 1995

*Miles Davis Quintet: Live in Europe 1967: The Bootleg Series Vol. 1 (disc 1)

*Miles Davis: The Cellar Door Sessions 1970 (disc 4) "Inamorata"

*Bob Dylan: Biograph (disc 3)

*Bob Dylan/Various artists: Theme Time Radio Hour S01 E17 "Friends and Neighbours"

*Duke Ellington: The Great Ellington Units

*Duke Ellington: All American in Jazz

*Farmers By Nature: Out of This World's Distortions

*Grateful Dead: Hundred Year Hall (1972-04-26 Frankfurt) (disc 2) "The Other One"

*Grateful Dead: Road Trips Vol. 4 No. 3 (1973-12-06 Cleveland) (bonus disc) "Dark Star"

*Milford Graves: Stories

*Mary Halvorson: Code Girl (disc 2)

*Herbie Hancock: The Prisoner

*Hatfield and the North: Hatfield and the North (side 1)

*Henry Cow: Leg End (Cow Box Redux)

*Billie Holiday: The Legacy (1933-1958) (disc 2)

*Bobby Hutcherson: Classic Bobby Hutcherson Blue Note Sessions 1963-1970 (discs 2, 3)

*Ravi Shankar: India's Master Musician "Morning Raag"

*Matt Mitchell: Vista Accumulation (disc 2)

*Matt Mitchell/Kate Gentile: Snark Horse (disc 1)

*OOIOO: Kila Kila Kila

*Tony Oxley/Derek Bailey: The Advocate

*Annette Peacock: 4 Emilia-Romagna W/LV

*Pere Ubu: Live at the Longhorn April 1, 1978 (sides 1, 2)

*Polyorchard: Ink (disc 1)

*Rascals: Peaceful World

*Elliott Sharp/Sally Gates/Tashi Dorji: Ere Guitar

*Tyshawn Sorey Trio: The Susceptible Now

*Sparks: Terminal Jive (sides 1, 2)

*Sun Ra: Kingdom of Discipline (side 2)

*Sun Ra: Lights on a Satellite: Live at the Left Bank (sides 2, 3, 4)

*Sun Ra Arkestra: Live At Pit-Inn Tokyo, Japan, 8, 8, 1988 (side 2)

*Cecil Taylor: The World of Cecil Taylor

*Cecil Taylor: Air

*Cecil Taylor: Garden (disc 1)

*McCoy Tyner/Joe Henderson: Forces of Nature: Live at Slugs' (disc 1)

*UYA: 1993-02-09 Water Damage (wav)

*Webber/Morris Big Band: Both Are True

*Frank Zappa: Uncle Meat (disc 1)

*John Zorn/Chaos Magick: 444

Reading List, Week of 2025-01-05

I thought I had done with Miss MacIntosh , My Darling for a while, but then I found out about this reading group, and damn if I haven't started it again... 

Reading List 2024-01-06:

*Harrow, Alix E. The Once and Future Witches (started)
*Young, Marguerite. Miss MacIntosh, My Darling (reread/started)
*Robey, Tim. Box Office Poison: Hollywood's Story in a Century of Flops (finished)
*Shakespeare, William. Macbeth (Arden 3rd ed., ed. Sandra Clark, Pamela Mason) (reread/finished)
*Dylan, Bob. The Philosophy of Modern Song (in progress)
*Mendelson, Cheryl. Home Comforts: The Art and Science of Keeping House (in progress)