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!

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)

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)

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. Recognitions, JR
Joyce, James. Finnegans Wake
Melville, Herman. Moby-Dick
Milton, John. Paradise Lost
Nabokov: Gift, Enchanter, Sebastian 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?

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)

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.

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....