Anthony Braxton at Duke

Let me tell you where I'll be this Friday: seeing the Anthony Braxton Diamond Curtain Wall Quintet at Duke University!! Woo-hoo!! To make this event even sweeter, last time I checked it was a quartet...which was totally fine, believe me...Mary Halvorson, Taylor Ho Bynum (I was lucky enough to see both of them with Braxton at the Kennedy Center in 2012), and Andrew Raffo Dewar. But, while checking the link to the show, I saw that they've added....Ingrid Laubrock!! Hot damn! She was at the Kennedy Center as well, and I can't say how excited I am to be seeing her again. This is going to be a helluva show!

So, if you happen to be there, be sure and say howdy...I'll be the slobbering fanboy idiot in the corner.

Playlist, Week of 2015-02-22

Playlist 2015-02-23:

*Daniel Barbiero and Jimmy Ghaphery: The Convergence of Parallel Lines
*Lester Bowie Sho ‘Nuff Orchestra: 1979-02-17 NYC (CDR) (disc 3)
*Anthony Braxton: Composition 96
*Anthony Braxton Ensemble: 1995-02-09 Tri-Centric Festival, NYC (CDR) “Composition 96”
*Anthony Braxton & Walter Frank: 4 Improvisations (Duets) 2004
*Miles Davis: Miles at the Fillmore (disc 1)
*Mary Halvorson Reverse Blue: 2015-01-09 NYC (CDR)
*Roscoe Mitchell and Muhal Richard Abrams: Duets and Solos
*Naked Truth: Ouroborus
*New Ting Ting Loft: 2015-01-26: “Charley Vision Gets a Rehaul” (wav)
*New Ting Ting Loft: 2015-02-09 “Second Thoughts in Number Five” (wav)
*Clifford Schwing/Jimmy Ghaphery: Forklift
*Wadada Leo Smith & Roscoe Mitchell Creative Orchestra: 1979-06-03 Moers (disc 2)
*Wadada Leo Smith: Ten Freedom Summers (discs 1, 2)
*Henry Threadgill: Song Out of My Trees
*James Blood Ulmer: 1989-02-17 Somerville MA (CDR)
*801: 801 Live
*Akron/Family: Sub Verses
*Lily Allen: Sheezus
*S.D. Burman: Legends (disc 2)
*David Crosby: If I Could Only Remember My Name
*Crosby and Nash: Graham Nash David Crosby
*D’Angelo: Voodoo
*D’Angelo and the Vanguard: Black Messiah
*Grateful Dead: Spring 1990: So Glad You Made It (selections)
*Annette Hanshaw: The Twenties Sweetheart
*Stephen David Heitkotter: Black Orckid
*Rascals: 1969-06-29 Honolulu (CDR)
*Various artists: Dance Bands USA: 1925 to 1935
*Various artists: Music & More (CDR compilation)
*Various artists: Love’s a Real Thing: The Funky Fuzzy Sounds of West Africa

Reading List, Week of 2015-02-22

This may be my least favorite of the saga. Almost unremittingly dark. Even so, it's brilliant. What the hell--I'm lovin' it!

Reading List 2015-02-23:

*Erikson, Steven. Reaper’s Gale (reread/started)
*Erikson, Steven. The Bonehunters (reread/finished)
*Stanley, Thomas. The Execution of Sun Ra (finished)
*Fitzpatrick, Kathleen. Planned Obsolescence (in progress)
*Ratey, John J., and Eric Hagerman. Spark (in progress)

Nostalgia

Pleasant thoughts for a snowy Saturday:

There had been times--he was almost certain--when he'd known unmitigated joy, but so faded were they to his recollection that he had begun to suspect the fictional conjuring of nostalgia. As with civilizations and their golden ages, so too with people: each individual ever longing for that golden past moment of true peace and wellness.
     So often it was rooted in childhood, in a time before the strictures of enlightenment had afflicted the soul, when what had seemed simple unfolded its complexity like the petals of a poison flower, to waft its miasma of decay. (Steven Erikson, The Bonehunters, Tor 2008, p. 839)

George Clinton on the Beatles

George Clinton, speaking about the evolution of P-Funk in the mid-'70s:

...black audiences had evolved, just as they would do if they were exposed to something constantly which itself is allowed to change. The best example of that is The Beatles: they would hit you with all kinds of shit, all kinds of good music--rock, funky, classical, pop, witty, folky--and their audience would go with them because once they put it up there and it was good, people wanted to get into it, they wanted The Beatles to take them with them. Wherever they were going. (quoted in Lloyd Bradley, "Interstellar Overdrive," Mojo Sept. 2014, p. 57)

Playlist, Week of 2015-02-15

Playlist 2015-02-16:

*Daniel Barbiero and Jimmy Ghaphery: The Convergence of Parallel Lines
*Lester Bowie Sho ‘Nuff Orchestra: 1979-02-17 NYC (CDR) (disc 1)
*Anthony Braxton: Composition 96
*Anthony Braxton: Composition 98
*Anthony Braxton with the Northwest Creative Orchestra: Eugene (1989) “Composition No. 134”
*Anthony Braxton: 4 (Ensemble) Compositions 1992 “Composition No. 96”
*Anthony Braxton Ensemble: 1995-02-09 Tri-Centric Festival, NYC (CDR) “Composition 96”
*Anthony Braxton: 4 Compositions (Ulrichsberg) 2005 Phonomanie VIII (disc 2)
*Anthony Braxton/Gyorgy Szabados/Vladimir Tarasov: Triotone
*Tom Bruno/Sabir Mateen: Getting Away with Murder
*Rodger Coleman & Sam Byrd: 2014-12-29 Nashville (wav)
*Rodger Coleman & Sam Byrd: 2014-12-30 Nashville (wav)
*Miles Davis Quintet: Live in Europe 1969 (The Bootleg series, Vol. 2) (disc 2)
*George Lewis: Shadowgraph, 5 (Sextet)
*New Loft: 2008-08-06 “Buffer Zone” (wav)
*New Ting Ting Loft: 2015-02-09 “Second Thoughts in Number Five” (wav)
*Tony Oxley Quintet: 1974-03-18 London (CDR)
*Tony Oxley Sextet: 1976-10-28 London (CDR)
*Tony Oxley Quartet: 1976-06-20 Hamburg (CDR)
*Cecil Taylor Feel Trio: Two Ts for a Lovely T (discs 1, 2, 3, 4)
*Various artists: That Devilin' Tune (Vol. 2, disc 1)
*Willis Earl Beal: Nobody Knows
*Johnny Burnette: Johnny Burnette & the Rock ‘n Roll Trio
*Faust: The Faust Tapes
*Faust: 71 Minutes of Faust
*Grateful Dead: Spring 1990: So Glad You Made It (disc 2)
*Mars Volta: De-Loused in the Comatorium
*Modest Mouse: Building Nothing out of Something
*Pineapple Explode: Cooke City
*Various artists: Stoned... (CDR compilation)
*Various artists: Some Blues (CDR compilation)
*Neil Young: Live at the Cellar Door

Reading List, Week of 2015-02-15

Deep into it now...

Reading List 2015-02-16:

*Erikson, Steven. The Bonehunters (reread/in progress)
*Fitzpatrick, Kathleen. Planned Obsolescence (in progress)
*Ratey, John J., and Eric Hagerman. Spark (in progress)
*Stanley, Thomas. The Execution of Sun Ra (in progress)

Peace Love Dove

Happy Valentine's Day!

The Convergence of Parallel Lines

New release from Dan and Jimmy, available for free download and streaming here: The Convergence of Parallel Lines. "Three improvisations and one composition for winds and double bass, and one live improvisation for winds, double bass, percussion and three dancers." Congratulations to both of them for a gorgeous-sounding, thoughtful release of reeds/bass conversations. Full (and proud) disclosure: I appear on the last track, taken from our Pyramid Atlantic show last summer. Enjoy!

Playlist, Week of 2015-02-08

Playlist 2015-02-09:

*Purbayan Chatterjee: Nirman
*AMM: 2003-11-12 Glasgow (CDR)
*Anthony Braxton/Tomas Fujiwara/Tom Rainey: Trio (New Haven) 2013 (discs 3, 4)
*Anthony Braxton Diamond Curtain Wall Quartet: 2015-01-23 Le Kremlin-Bicetre, France (wav)
*Clifford Brown-Sonny Rollins-Max Roach Quintet: Complete Studio Recordings
*John Butcher: 13 Friendly Numbers
*Rodger Coleman & Sam Byrd: 2014-12-29 Nashville (wav)
*Rodger Coleman & Sam Byrd: 2014-12-30 Nashville (wav)
*Miles Davis Quintet: Live in Europe 1969 (The Bootleg series, Vol. 2) (disc 1)
*Gruppo Di Improvvisazione Nuova Consonanza: The Feed-Back
*Ingrid Laubrock Anti-House: Ingrid Laubrock Anti-House
*Luc Ex’ Sol6: 2009-11-16 Rome (CDR)
*David Fiuczynski: Kif Express
*Jackie McLean: ‘Bout Soul
*Mindbreath Trio: 2015-01-10 Union Arts, Washington DC (wav)
*Grachan Moncur III: Evolution
*Nucleus: Under the Sun
*Evan Parker Electro-Acoustic Ensemble: Memory/Vision
*Terje Rypdal: Odyssey: In Studio & In Concert (disc 1)
*Schlippenbach Quartet: Das Hohe Lied (disc 2)
*Sun Ra: Mastering Comparisons (CDR compilation)
*Various artists: That Devilin' Tune (Vol. 2, disc 9)
*Beatles: Northwest Nights (boot CDR)
*Bob Dylan and The Band: The Basement Tapes- Complete (disc 6)
*Electric Wurms: Musik, Die Schwer Zu Twerk
*Faust: C’est Com...Com...Complique
*Hatfield and the North: John Peel Sessions
*Neutral Milk Hotel: On Avery Island
*Jimmy Reed: Found Love
*Todd Rundgren: Todd Rundgren’s Utopia
*Sleeping People: Growing
*Irma Thomas: Soul Queen of New Orleans (disc 1)
*UYA: UYA Lite (cassette compilation)
*Various artists: Psych Funk Sa-Re-Ga! Seminar: Aesthetic Expressions of Psychedelic Funk Music in India 1970-1983
*Frank Zappa: Wazoo (disc 1)
*John Zorn: Astaroth: Book of Angels Vol. 1: Jamie Saft Trio Plays Masada Book Two
*John Zorn: Mount Analogue
*Zu: Igneo
*Zu: Carboniferous

Reading List, Week of 2015-02-08

Reading List 2015-02-09:

*Fitzpatrick, Kathleen. Planned Obsolescence (started)
*Erikson, Steven. The Bonehunters (reread/in progress)
*Ratey, John J., and Eric Hagerman. Spark (in progress)
*Stanley, Thomas. The Execution of Sun Ra (in progress)

Guitarsolomix

Almost 20 years ago, I had a wild hair and put together a cassette mix of some of my favorite guitar solos and bits: just the solos, not the whole songs. I present it here, warts and all. And there are a lot of warts. There’s no cross-fading, no fancy edits or good transitions...just a bunch of solos, taken out of context and blurred together. I didn’t always work from the best sources, either; many of these solos are from crappy transfers from scratchy album to cassette. When I digitized this, I did trim some unintentional gaps in Audacity, and I boosted a couple of solos’ sound levels, but for the most part I left it alone.

So what makes great guitar solos? It's not required, but most of them tell a story. They are so well-constructed and perfectly developed that no note could be left out. They seem inevitable, like they've always existed. Hopefully you'll hear that inevitability in many of these solos. These are guitar bits that speak to me viscerally, intellectually, and emotionally. Technique doesn’t impress me as much as musicality and suitability. Of course, you’re not getting the suitability aspect in this mix since these solos are wrenched from their context, but if you know these songs, you’ll get what I mean. And you should know most if not all of these songs! heh-heh... I think for the purposes of this tape, I left out really long ones, either excerpting from longer solos or omitting them entirely.

There are a few personal faves I left out because I didn’t have access to the recordings at the time I made this: Tommy Bolin’s scorcher on Billy Cobham’s “Quadrant 4” from Spectrum, the great solo from the Kingsmen’s “Louie Louie,” and the guitar work on “We Feel Fine” from Touch. There’s no Pete Cosey or Johnny Winter. Oh, well. Anyway, I’m not going to list out all the sources. See how many you can guess! How much you can tolerate? It’s a long track (42 minutes). Enjoy! And let me know what you think. The track is streaming here:

...and you can download it here. [Sorry about the white space...can't figure out how to get rid of it.]

To stay in the spirit of it, this is probably best played really loud….and beer wouldn’t hurt.

Playlist, Week of 2015-02-02

Still absorbing this. I could listen to these guys all day. The levels of artistry and inventiveness here are just staggeringly mindblowing.

Playlist 2015-02-02:

*Mozart: 6 String Quartets (Quatuor Ysaye) (disc 1)
*Anthony Braxton/Ann Rhodes: GTM (Syntax) 2003 (disc 1)
*Anthony Braxton/Tomas Fujiwara/Tom Rainey: Trio (New Haven) 2013 (discs 1, 2)
*Rodger Coleman & Sam Byrd: 2013-12-23 Nashville (“Cosmologies” outtakes) (wav)
*Rodger Coleman & Sam Byrd: 2013-12-27 Nashville (“Cosmologies” outtakes) (wav)
*Bryan Ferry Orchestra: The Jazz Age
*Gerry Hemingway: Acoustic Solo Works 1983-94
*Charles Mingus: Right Now
*Roscoe Mitchell: Duets with Tyshawn Sorey and Special Guest Hugh Ragin
*New Ting Ting Loft: 2015-01-12 “Auspices” (wav)
*New Ting Ting Loft: 2015-01-26: “Charley Vision Gets a Rehaul” (wav)
*Sun Ra & His Astro-Infinity Arkestra: Sign of the Myth
*Acid Mothers Temple & the Melting Paraiso U.F.O.: Son of a Bitches Brew
*D’Angelo and the Vanguard: Black Messiah
*Bob Dylan and The Band: The Basement Tapes- Complete (discs 4, 5)
*Flying Lotus: Until the Quiet Comes
*Fripp & Eno: Live in Paris 28.05.1975 (discs 1, 2)
*Grateful Dead: Wake Up to Find Out
*Guided By Voices: 1994-11-03 Middle East, Cambridge MA (CDR)
*Negativeland: 1989 Amherst MA (CDR)
*Negro Problem: Joys and Concerns
*Opeth: Pale Communion
*Prince: Art Official Age
*Prince/3rdeyegirl: Plectrumelectrum
*Laetitia Sadier: Something Shines
*Various artists: New Orleans Funk 3
*Various artists: WSAM: Drive (cassette compilation)
*Various artists: The Space Project

Reading List, Week of 2015-02-01

Reading List 2015-02-02:

*Erikson, Steven. The Bonehunters (reread/started)
*Erikson, Steven. Midnight Tides (reread/finished)
*Ratey, John J., and Eric Hagerman. Spark (in progress)
*Stanley, Thomas. The Execution of Sun Ra (in progress)