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 Montreux
2. 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

61. Sun Ra - Piano Interlude

62. Santana - La Fuente Del Ritmo
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

Playlist, Week of 2025-03-30

I have almost all the stuff in the 4-CD Louis Armstrong box set Portrait of the Artist as a Young Man: 1923-1934 on other discs, but it's been a real treat to spend some deep listening time with the box... the music, of course, is fantastic... the selection is solid, and the annotations by Dan Morgenstern and Loren Schoenberg are brilliant... it's always a joy when Armstrong pops up on the Magic Jukebox, but it was a great weekend being immersed in this music... I have a slew of live Art Ensemble of Chicago I'll be working my way through, in addition to my ongoing Duke Ellington, Sun Ra, and Grateful Dead forays... Speaking of Ellington, I am loving Anatomy of a Murder madly... I rewatched the movie, and the music really adds extra spice... plus we get to see Duke himself playing a duet with Jimmy Stewart... 

Playlist 2025-03-31:

*Marshall Allen: New Dawn

*Louis Armstrong: Portrait of the Artist as a Young Man 1923-1934 (discs 1, 2, 3)

*Louis Armstrong and His All-Stars: Satch Plays Fats

*Art Ensemble of Chicago: 1974-11-16 Tokyo (CDR)

*Art Ensemble of Chicago: 1975-09-09 Five Spot, NYC (CDR) (disc 1)

*Blue Notes: Blue Notes for Johnny

*Anthony Braxton: Ninetet (Yoshi's) 1997, Vol. 4 (disc 1)

*Anthony Braxton Quartet: Standards (Brussels) 2006 (discs 4, 5, 6)

*John Butcher/John Edwards/Mark Sanders: Last Dream of the Morning

*Dustin Carlson: Air Ceremony

*John Coltrane: A Love Supreme (deluxe ed.) (disc 2) "Pursuance"

*John Coltrane: Live in Seattle "Out of This World"

*Miles Davis: 1972-10-01 Palo Alto, CA (CDR)

*Bob Dylan: The Bootleg Series Vol. 1-3 (disc 2)

*Bob Dylan/Various artists: Theme Time Radio Hour S01 E27 "Dance"

*Bob Dylan/Various artists: Theme Time Radio Hour S01 E28 "Sleep"

*Bob Dylan/Various artists: Theme Time Radio Hour S01 E29 "Food"

*Silke Eberhard/Céline Voccia: Wild Knots

*Duke Ellington and His Orchestra: A Drum Is a Woman

*Duke Ellington: Happy Reunion

*Duke Ellington: 1899-1974 (sides 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10)

*Duke Ellington and His Orchestra: Newport 1958 "Princess Blue"

*Duke Ellington: Anatomy of a Murder

*Duke Ellington and His Orchestra: Festival Session (sides 1, 2)

*Ingebrigt Håker Flaten/Paal Nilssen-Love: Guts & Skins

*Grateful Dead: 1969-04-04 San Francisco (CDR) "Dark Star"

*Grateful Dead: 1969-04-05 San Francisco (CDR) "Mountains of the Moon > Dark Star"

*Grateful Dead: 1969-04-11 Tucson AZ (CDR) "Dark Star"

*Grateful Dead: 1969-04-12 Salt Lake City (CDR) "Dark Star"

*Grant Green: Idle Moments

*Mary Halvorson: Belladonna

*Mary Halvorson: Amaryllis

*Earl Hines: Giants of Jazz (disc 1)

*Noah Howard: The Black Ark

*Freddie Hubbard: Hub-Tones

*Jefferson Pilot: Recordeo

*Henry Kaiser/Wadada Leo Smith: Yo Miles!: Sky Garden (disc 2)

*Henry Kaiser/Robert Musso: Echoes for Sonny

*Brandon Lopez: Nada Sagrada

*Jimmie Lunceford: The Complete Jimmie Lunceford Decca Sessions (discs 5, 6)

*Massacre: Meltdown

*Matt Mitchell: Zealous Angles

*Jemeel Moondoc/Hilliard Greene: Cosmic Nickelodeon

*New Loft Quartet: Mergus Goes to Baltimore

*New Ting: 2025-03-24 "Retroactivity Noticed" (wav)

*Painkiller: Samsara

*Zeena Parkins/Chris Brown/William Winant/Ben Davis: Scree

*Jon Rose/Mark Dresser: Band Width

*Alexander von Schlippenbach/Globe Unity Orchestra: Globe Unity: 50 Years

*Sun Ra and His Myth Science Arkestra: Angels and Demons at Play

*Sun Ra and His Myth-Science Arkestra: The Nubians of Plutonia

*Sun Ra and His Myth Science Arkestra: When Angels Speak of Love (side 1)

*Sun Ra: Kingdom of Discipline (side 2)

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

*UYA: 1993-09-26 We Salute You (wav)

*Various artists: That Devilin' Tune (Vol. I, disc 8)

*Various artists: Latin Rhythms in Hi Fi

*Ben Webster: Ballads (sides 3, 4)

*John Zorn/JACK Quartet: The Complete String Quartets (disc 1)

Reading List, Week of 2025-03-30

Reading List 2025-03-31:

*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

Henry Threadgill writes about 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)
 

Playlist, Week of 2025-03-23

Weird of Mouth consists of improvisations from the trio of Mette Rasmussen, Ches Smith, and Craig Taborn... Smith and Taborn I was familiar with, but Rasmussen less so... she is an excellent, fiery alto sax player... their playing together here is dazzling and brilliant... Yes, What's Going On is a masterpiece, but I have a soft spot in my heart for I Want You, and I think it's a better seduction album than Let's Get It On... I am finding "The Queen's Suite" to be one of the weakest of Duke Ellington's suites, in spite of what Lambert has to say about it... I will listen more to see what I am missing... I love the concept of Yo Miles! but they can't touch the pure intensity of what inspired them... but it's great that that music continued to be played; it needs to be, even if it ain't Miles... 

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

Reading List 2025-03-24:

*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)

 

Playlist, Week of 2025-03-16

The most well-known version of "Dark Star" has to be the first one the Grateful Dead released, on Live/Dead... and that really was the best version they'd played (that was recorded, anyway) up to that point... everything comes together... up to then, Bill Kreutzmann had kept himself to half-heartedly playing shakers, with only occasional tentative forays on the drum kit, until 1969-02-22, and that must have felt good, because here, a few days later, he plays the kit forcefully for part of the song, driving Garcia in a different way and adding a new dimension, which to my ears kicks it to the next level... "Dark Star" is becoming more and more of a full-group improvisatory exploration... This week my listening was focused, it seems, on "Dark Star," Duke Ellington, Roscoe Mitchell, Anthony Braxton, and Sun Ra... so what else is new?

Playlist 2025-03-17:

*[Ahmed]: Wood Blues

*[Ahmed]: Giant Beauty (disc 2)

*All Set: All Set

*Johann Sebastian Bach: The Well-Tempered Clavier (Glenn Gould) (disc 1)

*Beatles: The Early Beatles (mono 2024) (side 1)

*Blue Notes: Blue Notes for Mongezi (disc 2)

*Hamiet Bluiett: Orchestra, Duo, & Septet (sides 1, 2)

*Anthony Braxton: Ninetet (Yoshi's) 1997, Vol. 3 (disc 2)

*Anthony Braxton Ensemble: 2006-06-10 Kerava, Finland (CDR)

*Anthony Braxton Sextet: 2006-08-12 Lisboa (CDR)

*Anthony Braxton Quartet: Standards (Brussels) 2006 (disc 1)

*Peter Brötzmann Octet: The Complete Machine Gun Sessions "Machine Gun"

*Clear Frame: Clear Frame

*Gerald Cleaver & Violet Hour: Live At Firehouse 12

*John Coltrane: One Down, One Up: Live at the Half Note (disc 1)

*John Coltrane: First Meditations (For Quartet) (side 1)

*Miles Davis: In Person Friday and Saturday Nights at the Blackhawk, Complete (disc 3)

*Miles Davis Quintet: 1967-11-07 Karlsruhe, Germany (CDR)

*Bob Dylan/Various artists: Theme Time Radio Hour S01 E24 "Time"

*Bob Dylan/Various artists: Theme Time Radio Hour S01 E25 "Guns"

*Duke Ellington: The Girls' Suite/The Perfume Suite (side 2)

*Duke Ellington/Ella Fitzgerald: Ella Fitzgerald Sings the Duke Ellington Song Book (disc 3) "Portrait of Ella Fitzgerald"

*Duke Ellington and His Orchestra: Ellington Indigos (sides 1, 2)

*Duke Ellington: His Piano and His Orchestra at the Bal Masque

*Duke Ellington's Spacemen: The Cosmic Scene

*Duke Ellington and His Orchestra: Live at Newport 1958 (discs 1, 2)

*Duke Ellington and His Orchestra: Jazz at the Plaza Vol. II (side 1)

*Duke Ellington and His Orchestra: Ellington Jazz Party in Stereo (side 1)

*Kate Gentile: Mannequins

*George: Leave It (side 2)

*George: Letters to George (side 2)

*Grateful Dead: Fillmore East 2-11-69 (disc 2) "Dark Star"

*Grateful Dead: 1969-02-14 Philadelphia (CDR) "Dark Star"

*Grateful Dead: 1969-02-15 Philadelphia (CDR) "Dark Star"

*Grateful Dead: 1969-02-21 Vellejo, CA (CDR) (disc 1)

*Grateful Dead: 1969-02-22 Vellejo, CA (CDR) "Mountains of the Moon > Dark Star"

*Grateful Dead: Live/Dead "Dark Star"

*Grateful Dead: The Complete Fillmore West 1969 (disc 4) "Dark Star"

*Grateful Dead: The Complete Fillmore West 1969 (disc 7) "Dark Star"

*Mary Halvorson: Reverse Blue

*Billie Holiday: The Complete Billie Holiday on Verve 1945-1959 (disc 1)

*Vijay Iyer: Compassion

*Jefferson Pilot: The Return of Troubled Youth Orchestra

*Jefferson Pilot: Sad Magazine

*Ned Lagin: Seastones (1975 versions)

*Lama + Chris Speed: Lamaçal

*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 4)

*Brian Marsella’s iMAGiNARiUM: Mediatas (discs 1, 2)

*Roscoe Mitchell: Songs in the Wind

*Roscoe Mitchell: 2012-03-10 London (CDR)

*Roscoe Mitchell/Brus Trio: After Fallen Leaves

*Roscoe Mitchell and the Note Factory: The Bad Guys

*Thelonious Monk: Piano Solos (side 1)

*Ikue Mori: Class Insecta

*New Ting: 2025-03-03: "Cleaning Out the Corners" (wav)

*NRBQ: Interstellar (side 1)

*Tony Oxley Quintet: The Baptised Traveller

*Zeena Parkins: Dam Against the Spring Tide

*Matana Roberts: Coin Coin Chapter Two: Mississippi Moonchile

*Matana Roberts: Coin Coin Chapter Five: In the Garden (sides 3, 4)

*Sonny Rollins: Worktime (side 1)

*Otis Rush: 1956-1958 Cobra Recordings

*Secret People: Secret People

*Ravi Shankar: The Sounds of India

*Sun Ra and His Solar Arkestra: Other Planes of There (side 2)

*Sun Ra and His Myth Science Arkestra: When Angels Speak of Love (sides 1, 2)

*Sun Ra: Heliocentric Worlds Vol. 3: The Lost Tapes

*Sun Ra: Spaceways [Outer Spaceways Inc.]

*Sun Ra: Monorails & Satellites: Works for Solo Piano Vols. 1, 2, 3 (disc 3)

*Sun Ra and His Arkestra: Thunder of the Gods (side 1)

*Sun Ra: Egypt 1971 (disc 3)

*Henry Threadgill's Zooid: Pop Start the Tape, StoP

*Mary Lou Williams Trio: Free Spirits

*John Zorn: New Masada Quartet Vol. 3

*John Zorn/Brian Marsella Trio: Ballades