For some reason last night I was in the mood for some piano... I started off with a bit of Geneviève Foccroulle playing the solo piano work of Anthony Braxton, in this case "Composition 31," an early piece that's abstract and opaque and quite beautiful... Then I moved on to Cecil Taylor's first album, Jazz Advance... he lays it out right from the get-go with his Cubist reworking of Monk's "Bemsha Swing"... this whole album sounds fresh and invigorating, pretty amazing for the 21st century... imagine how radical it must have sounded in 1956!... Finally, I ended with Duke Ellington and Money Jungle... I've always felt kind of lukewarm about this album, but it's growing on me, and last night it blew me away... Duke's playing is nothing less than sublime, soaked in the blues but also forward-thinking and exploratory... so, all in all, a wonderful evening of creative piano music...
Playlist 2026-04-06:
*George Adams/Don Pullen: Don't Lose Control (side 1)
*AMM: The Crypt - 12th June 1968 (disc 1)
*Art Ensemble of Chicago: 1977-07-27 NYC (CDR) (discs 1, 2, 3)
*Kevin Ayers and the Whole World: Shooting at the Moon (side 2)
*Anthony Braxton Quartet: 1976-10-28 Graz, Austria (CDR) "Four Winds"
*Anthony Braxton: 4 (Ensemble) Compositions 1992 "Comp. 163"
*Anthony Braxton: Piano Music (1968-2000)/Performed by Genevieve Foccroulle (disc 3)
*Anthony Braxton: Trillium X (disc 6)
*Dave Burrell: High Won - High Two (side 4)
*Nels Cline: Downpour
*Nels Cline Singers: The Giant Pin
*Nels Cline Singers: Initiate (disc 1)
*Rodger Coleman and Sam Byrd: 2014-12-30 Nashville (track 1)
*John Coltrane: 1965-04-02 Half Note, NYC (CDR) "Creation"
*Deerhoof: Noble and Godlike in Ruin
*Bob Dylan: Fallen Angels
*Bob Dylan/Various artists: Theme Time Radio Hour S02 E51: "Hello"
*Duke Ellington and His Orchestra: Such Sweet Thunder (sides 1, 2)
*Duke Ellington: 1899-1974 (side 3)
*Duke Ellington: Money Jungle
*Duke Ellington: The Reprise Studio Recordings (disc 1)
*Duke Ellington and His Orchestra: Latin American Suite
*Grateful Dead: 1973-10-25 Madison WI (CDR) "Dark Star > Mind Left Body Jam > Dark Star"
*Grateful Dead: Listen to the River: St. Louis '71 '72 '73 (disc 20) "Dark Star" (1973-10-30)
*Grateful Dead: 1973-11-11 Winterland (CDR) "Dark Star"
*Grateful Dead: 1973-11-21 Denver CO (CDR) "Dark Star Jam"
*Grateful Dead: 1978-04-10 Atlanta (CDR) (disc 1)
*Impressions: Check Out Your Mind!
*Impressions: Times Have Changed
*Ingrid Laubrock: Serpentines
*Ingrid Laubrock/Tom Rainey: Stir Crazy (CDR compilation) (disc 12)
*Allen Lowe: Jews and Roots: An Avant-Garde of Our Own (disc 2)
*Thelonious Monk: Brilliant Corners
*Roscoe Mitchell: Discussions (sides 1, 2, 3)
*Rascals: 1968-08-16 Hollywood Bowl (CDR)
*Max Roach: The Long March (side 1)
*Sonny Rollins: Saxophone Colossus
*Ches Smith: Clone Row
*Sparks: Sparks (side 1)
*Sparks: Balls (side 4)
*Sun Ra and His Astro-Ihnfinity Arkestra: Sun Embassy
*Sun Ra and His Astro Ihnfinity Arkestra: The Intergalactic Thing (side 4)
*Sun Ra and His Omniverse Jet-Set Arkestra: 1980-12-27 Detroit (CDR) (disc 3)
*Sun Ra and His Arkestra: In the Orbit of Ra (side 4)
*Cecil Taylor: Jazz Advance
*UYA: 1994-10-16 Elbow Movement (wav)
*Various artists: Martin Scorsese Presents The Blues (A Musical Journey) (disc 4)
*Various artists: Body and Soul (CDR compilation)
*Weather Report: Live in Tokyo (side 4)
*Yes: Tales from Topographic Oceans (Super Deluxe Ed.) (disc 9)
