With and Without

I think the thing that's always fascinated me about records is the play between understanding them as objects of solitary attention and as the focal point of social interaction.  (John Corbett, Vinyl Freak: Love Letters to a Dying Medium, p. 114)

Playlist, Week of 2017-12-24

Holiday greetings to all!... Really digging two of the free Anthony Braxton download offerings from the Tri-Centric Foundation... Creative Music Orchestra (NYC) 2011 is another brilliant large ensemble recording, while Trio (Knoxville) 2016 is a wonderfully innovative with Braxton, Taylor Ho Bynum, and vocalist Kyoko Kitamura, whose singing I have really enjoyed on Trillium J... at times it sounds like she may be incorporating parts of the opera here... Have also enjoyed working my way through the two live evenings of  the Art Ensemble of Chicago from the Empty Foxhole in Philadelphia... They were really on for these... I'm thinking after I do my spin through all my Threadgill recordings I may need to do a second round through all my Art Ensemble ones (and Braxton, and Muhal Richard Abrams)... AACM-related music has given me deep joy throughout the years...

Playlist 2017-12-25:

*Art Ensemble of Chicago: 1976-03-14 Philadelphia (CDR) (discs 1, 2)
*Daniel Barbiero/Sam Byrd/Jimmy Ghaphery: 2017-12-02 Rhizome, Washington DC (wav)
*Anthony Braxton: Creative Music Orchestra (NYC) 2011
*Anthony Braxton: Trio (Knoxville) 2016
*Rodger Coleman and Sam Byrd: 2015-05-14 Nashville (wav)
*Matt Mitchell: A Pouting Grimace
*Henry Threadgill & Make a Move: Everybody's Mouth's a Book
*Henry Threadgill Zooid: 2004-08-13 NYC (CDR)
*Henry Threadgill Zooid: 2007-05-17 NYC (CDR) (disc 1)
*Various artists: Anthology of Noise and Electronic Music vol. 4: Fourth a-chronology 1937-2005 (disc 1)
*Captain Beyond: Captain Beyond
*Bob Dylan: The 1966 Live Recordings (discs 23, 24)
*Mike Elder/Harry Forrest/Greg Jordan/Sam Byrd: 2017-11-17 (wav)
*Fred Frith: Gravity
*Guided By Voices: Earthquake Glue
*Science Faxtion: Living on Another Frequency
*Phil Spector: A Christmas Gift For You From Phil Spector
*Various artists: Chhalia (soundtrack)
*Various artists: Heeralaal Pannalaal (soundtrack)
*Various artists: Tum Haseen Main Jawan (soundtrack)

Reading List, Week of 2017-12-24

Reading List 2017-12-25:

*Anderson, Sherwood. Winesburg, Ohio (finished)
*Jackson, Holbrook. Anatomy of Bibliomania (in progress)
*Kernfeld, Barry. What to Listen For in Jazz (in progress)
*MacDonald, Ian. Revolution in the Head, 3rd ed. (reread/in progress)

Recordings

Recordings are like high-speed photographs, capturing fast, short-lived phenomena that would otherwise go unnoticed. --Bill Shoemaker, "Page One," Point of Departure, Issue 58 (2017-03)

Reading List, Week of 2017-12-17

It's been a lovely year living with Ron Silliman's massive The Alphabet. Easy to get carried away with it:

     The words dissolve from our memory/imagination almost as fast as we read them --  they leave no echo or shadow (syntax an attempt to compromise the present) -- those other sentences, they never existed (except when they do) (p. 974)

For a nice take on it, check out Daniel Green's review "Ron Silliman's The Alphabet."

Reading List 2017-12-18:

*Silliman, Ron. The Alphabet (finished)
*Anderson, Sherwood. Winesburg, Ohio (in progress)
*Jackson, Holbrook. Anatomy of Bibliomania (in progress)
*Kernfeld, Barry. What to Listen For in Jazz (in progress)
*MacDonald, Ian. Revolution in the Head, 3rd ed. (reread/in progress)

Playlist, Week of 2017-12-17

Daniel Barbiero's latest collaboration (with Ernesto Rodrigues and his son Guilherme) is a pair of meditiative ruminations on identity and essence for prepared (and manipulated) double bass, viola, and cello... this music is elusive but stunning in its natural beauty and slow development... read Dan's thoughts on the recording here... Continuing to plow through the Bob Dylan 1966 box... amazing how much variation there is from night to night of basically the same exact playlist...

*Tim Berne's Snakeoil: You've Been Watching Me
*Anthony Braxton: 4 Compositions (Ulrichsberg) 2005/Phonomanie VIII (discs 2, 4)
*Rodger Coleman: Real Gone "Real Gone"
*Rodger Coleman & Andrew Dickson: 2016-11-02 Nashville (mp3)
*John Coltrane: Meditations (side 1)
*Vince Guaraldi Trio: A Charlie Brown Christmas
*New Ting Ting Loft: 2017-11-27: "All That Remains" (wav)
*Ernesto Rodrigues/Guilherme Rodrigues/Daniel Barbiero: {the} nature {of things} likes to hide
*Henry Threadgill: Carry the Day
*Henry Threadgill: Makin' a Move
*Henry Threadgill & Make a Move: Where's Your Cup?
*Henry Threadgill & Make a Move: 1999-06-27 Warsaw, Poland (CDR)
*Henry Threadgill & Make a Move: 1999-07-09 The Hague (CDR)
*Various artists: That Devilin' Tune (Vol. 2, disc 4)
*Various artists: What to Listen For in Jazz
*Kamasi Washington: The Epic
*Beatles: With the Beatles (2009 mono remaster)
*Deerhoof: Mountain Moves
*Bob Dylan: The 1966 Live Recordings (discs 21, 22)
*Tlahoun Gèssèssè: Tlahoun Gèssèssè (Éthiopiques 17)
*Grateful Dead: 1973-09-11 Williamsburg, VA (CDR) (disc 1)
*Tito Puente: The Complete 78s: Vol. 1 1949-55 (disc 1)
*UYA: 1990-09-17 Middle East Restaurant, Cambridge MA (wav)
*Various artists: Ethiopiques 25: 1971-1975 Modern Roots
*Yes: 1972-09-10 Manchester, England (CDR)
*Yes: The Word Is Live (selections)

Playlist, Week of 2017-12-10

I used to think Henry Threadgill's Too Much Sugar for a Dime was overproduced.... Bill Laswell's productions of the '90s sometimes rubs me the wrong way... too bright... but today this sounds fine to me... except for "Better Wrapped/Better Unwrapped," which tries too hard to integrate the (African?) chants for my taste, the album is a fine vehicle for Threadgill's super-charged compositions... Very Very Circus is the band for all but two cuts, and I hear noted improvement over the previous LP... still (and this has held true for subsequent Very Very Circus recordings), I am not as fond of Brandon Ross's guitar tone as Threadgill seems to be... it's just me, it's just me... My favorite track on Threadgill's Song Out of My Trees is the title cut, featuring Amina Claudine Myers smoking on organ... Dave Burrell's Echo is a wonderful slab of fiery free jazz, with the stellar rhythm section of Alan Silva and Sunny Murray... bread 'n' butter...

Playlist 2017-12-11:

*Art Ensemble of Chicago: 1976-03-12 Philadelphia (CDR) (disc 3)
*Daniel Barbiero/Sam Byrd/Jimmy Ghaphery: 2017-12-02 Rhizome, Washington DC (wav)
*Anthony Braxton: 4 Compositions (Ulrichsberg) 2005/Phonomanie VIII (disc 2)
*Anthony Braxton: Trillium J (disc 3)
*Anthony Braxton: Creative Music Orchestra (NYC) 2011
*Dave Burrell: Echo
*Steve Coleman and the Council of Balance: Genesis
*Duke Ellington: The Complete 1932-1940 Brunswick, Columbia and Master Recordings of Duke Ellington and His Famous Orchestra (disc 8)
*Billie Holiday: Lady Day: The Complete Billie Holiday on Columbia 1933–1944 (disc 2)
*Matt Mitchell: A Pouting Grimace
*Tom Rainey Trio: 2017-09-09 Jazz Gallery, NYC (CDR) (disc 1)
*Ernesto Rodrigues/Guilherme Rodrigues/Daniel Barbiero: {The} Nature {of Things} Likes to Hide
*Tyshawn Sorey: The Inner Spectrum of Variables
*Henry Threadgill's Very Very Circus: 1990-08-30 Willisau, Switzerland (CDR)
*Henry Threadgill's Very Very Circus: 1992-01-30 London (CDR)
*Henry Threadgill: Too Much Sugar For A Dime
*Henry Threadgill: Song Out of My Trees
*John Zorn: Film Works VIII: 2002 Volume Three: Invitation to a Suicide
*John Zorn: The Gift
*Beatles: Sgt. Peppers Lonely Heart Club Band (Super Deluxe Ed.) (disc 1)
*Scott Brookman: Smellicopter Two
*Bob Dylan: The 1966 Live Recordings (discs 18, 19, 20)
*Ozric Tentacles: Strangeitude (disc 2)
*Tito Puente: Tambó
*Tito Puente: Top Percussion
*Various artists: Anthology of Noise and Electronic Music vol. 3: Third a-chronology 1952-2004 (disc 2)
*Various artists: Ethiopiques 8: Swinging Addis 1969-1974
*Various artists: Ethiopiques 13: Ethiopian Groove: The Golden Seventies
*Yes: 1972-01-21 Amsterdam (CDR)
*Yes: 1972-03-17 San Bernardino, CA (CDR)
*Yes: 1972-08-13 Columbia MD (CDR)

Reading List, Week of 2017-12-10

Reading List 2017-12-11:

*Anderson, Sherwood. Winesburg, Ohio (started)
*Kernfeld, Barry. What to Listen For in Jazz (started)
*MacDonald, Ian. Revolution in the Head, 3rd ed. (reread/started)
*Kirkman, Robert, et al. The Walking Dead (issues 103-106) (started/finished)
*Shakespeare, William. Anthony and Cleopatra (ed.Terri Bourus, New Oxford Shakespeare, Critical Reference Ed.) (reread/started/finished)
*Skura, Meredith. "Is There a Shakespeare after the New New Bibliography?" in Elizabethan Theater: Essays in Honor of S. Schoenbaum, ed. Parker and Zitner (started/finished)
*Vaughan, Brian K., and Fiona Staples. Saga, Volume 7 (started/finished)
*Willingham, Bill, et al. Fables: The Deluxe Edition Book Fifteen (started/finished)
*Eco, Umberto. The Mysterious Flame of Queen Loana (finished)
*Jackson, Holbrook. Anatomy of Bibliomania (in progress)
*Silliman, Ron. The Alphabet (in progress)

Gig Canceled Tonight

The New Ting Ting Loft gig for tonight is canceled. Snow it goes.....

Barbiero-Byrd-Ghaphery Live Set Recording

The recording of the Barbiero-Byrd-Ghaphery trio set at Rhizome last weekend is now up for free streaming and download at Rhizome's page on archive.org. Please check it out! 25 minutes of acoustic free improvisation.

New RAIC Cassette "Love Lingers Like Poison in the Veins"

Tip of the hat to Samuel Goff and RAIC, who have released a new cassette on Bandcamp. Check it out!

Barbiero/Byrd/Ghaphery Trio Photos

The recording of the trio set with Daniel Barbiero and Jimmy Ghaphery turned out great. The acoustics at Rhizome are wonderful--we were able to play quite quietly and still were able to capture a great amount of detail. I think the file will be showing on the Rhizome page at archive.org soon. In the meanwhile, here are some photos, courtesy of Jeff Surak. Enjoy!

Upcoming New Ting Ting Loft Gig

New Ting Ting Loft will be playing in RVA this weekend. It's been a while since we played in town, so I'm really looking forward to it! I am also really looking forward to seeing Trio 000 (great video of them here).

Here are details:

A night of instrumental experimentations featuring DC-based Trio OOO with locals New Ting Ting Loft and Ceremonial Scissors .

Saturday, December 9th
Doors at 8:30pm
Sounds at 9pm
$5-$10 sliding scale

Trio OOO performs Fire Music. The group was founded at DC's Goldleaf studios in 2010 by Aaron Martin (alto sax), Luke Stewart (bass) and Sam Lohman (drums).
https://www.facebook.com/pg/Trio-OOO-381946611934198/about/?ref=page_internal

New Ting Ting Loft play an aggressive blend of improvised music with a 20 year history of adventurous aesthetics. The members of New Loft have collaborated, recorded, or performed with a variety of musicians including Bern Nix, Gregg Ginn, John Medeski, the Technical Jed, Bio Ritmo, Ululating Mummies, UYA, Hotel X, Matt Heyner, Pat Best, Byard Lancaster, Ian Davis, and Jason Bivins.
https://archive.org/search.php?query=creator%3A%22New+Ting+Ting+Loft%22

Ceremonial Scissors, a new band from Richmond, VA. Electroacoustic noise occult.
https://ceremonialscissors.bandcamp.com/releases
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hq_SFvWanow&feature=youtu.be

...and there's a Facebook page for the event. Hope to see you there!

Playlist, Week of 2017-12-03

After digging Scott Brookman's new EP Smellicopter 2 so much, I went to his Bandcamp page and discovered For Those Who Like POP, an older album of his that had somehow eluded me... it's brilliant, and while I love all the vocal tracks, what especially struck me were the wonderful instrumentals... Back in Henry Threadgill land, Flute Force 4 was a flute quartet... Flutistry has a couple of interesting Threadgill compositions... I was never quite as taken with Very Very Circus as I was with the Sextett, and Spirit of Nuff...Nuff reminded me of why: the guitars sound abrasive and misfitting, there may be just too much tuba (I like tuba as well as the next person, but...), and the compositions aren't as strong... I'm hoping to be disabused by my opinions with the next few Very Very Circus recordings coming up... In the meanwhile, have also been going the nostalgia route with some scattered Yes live recordings... I was quite the Yeshead "back in the day," as the kidz used to say...

Playlist 2017-12-04:

*Pepper Adams: Pepper Adams Plays Charlie Mingus
*Louis Armstrong: From the Original Okehs Vol. 5 1931/32
*Art Ensemble of Chicago: 1976-03-12 Philadelphia (CDR) (disc 2)
*Daniel Barbiero/Sam Byrd/Jimmy Ghaphery: 2017-12-02 Rhizome, Washington DC (wav)
*Paul Chambers: Bass on Top
*Flute Force 4: Flutistry
*Roy Haynes/Phineas Newborn/Paul Chambers: We Three
*Steve Lehman Octet: Travail, Transformation, and Flow
*Roscoe Mitchell Trio: No Side Effects (disc 2)
*Oliver Nelson: Blues and the Abstract Truth
*New Ting Ting Loft: 2017-11-06 "Affordable Alternatives" (wav)
*New Ting Ting Loft: 2017-11-20 "Fluid Dispersal" (wav)
*Henry Threadgill Sextett: Rag, Bush and All
*Henry Threadgill Very Very Circus: Spirit of Nuff...Nuff
*Dave Slusser: Delight at the End of the Tunnel
*Tyshawn Sorey: The Inner Spectrum of Variables
*Tyshawn Sorey: Verisimilitude
*Various artists: Anthology of Noise and Electronic Music vol. 3: Third a-chronology 1952-2004 (disc 1)
*Iannis Xenakis: Electronic Music
*Mahmoud Ahmed & Imperial Bodyguard Band: Ethiopiques 26 1972-74
*Beatles: Rubber Soul (2009 mono remaster)
*Scott Brookman: For Those Who Like POP
*Scott Brookman: Smellicopter Two
*Clash: Sandinista! (disc 2)
*Cramps: Songs the Lord Taught Us
*Bob Dylan: The 1966 Live Recordings (discs 15, 16, 17)
*Alèmayèhu Eshèté: Ethiopiques 22: More Vintage!
*Jackie Mittoo: Last Train to Skaville
*Todd Rundgren: White Knight
*Edgar Winter: Entrance
*Wire: Chairs Missing
*Yes: 1971-05-09 Rome (CDR)
*Yes: 1971-07-24 Yale, New Haven CT (CDR)
*Yes: 1973-11-18 Bristol, UK (CDR)
*Yes: 1975-05-10 London (CDR)

Reading List, Week of 2017-12-03

Reading List 2017-12-04:

*Eco, Umberto. The Mysterious Flame of Queen Loana (started)
*Mizuki, Shigeru. Onwards Towards Our Noble Deaths (started/finished)
*Lopez, Jeremy. Constructing the Canon of Early Modern Drama (finished)
*Shakespeare, William. Othello (ed. Gary Taylor, New Oxford Shakespeare, Critical Reference Ed.) (reread/finished)
*Jackson, Holbrook. Anatomy of Bibliomania (in progress)
*Silliman, Ron. The Alphabet (in progress)

Upcoming Gig in DC

A great space for quiet explorations... also loud ones... at any rate, always a pleasure to play with Jimmy and Dan!

Canonicity

...any list of “best of X literature” is always going to be a better device for exclusion than for adequately representing anything but the preferences of the gatekeepers. (Aaron Brady, "Best American Poetry Pseudonyms," The New Enquiry)

...the hardbound anthology makes unavoidably visible the process of selection and exclusion--the fundamental impulse of the aesthetic. (Jeremy Lopez, Constructing the Canon of Early Modern Drama, p. 157) 

Playlist, Week of 2017-11-26

After getting into the amazing drumming of Tyshawn Sorey with artists like Paradoxical Frog, Roscoe Mitchell, and Steve Lehman, I was looking forward to more of same with his latest two releases under his own name, The Inner Spectrum of Variables and Verisimilitude... what I didn't expect was two albums of deeply beautiful compositions that more than anything highlight the sensitive touch and careful fragility of pianist Cory Smythe... I mean, I knew Sorey was also a gifted pianist in his own right, but these pieces are really special... several times during Verisimilitude I was reminded of the slow unfolding of a Morton Feldman composition... probably revealing my ignorance here, since I haven't heard Sorey's earlier solo works... I definitely missed the boat on his earlier recordings, and need to play catch-up (been doing a lot of that lately! It never sends...)... oh well... this is lovely, enchanting music...

Playlist 2017-11-27:

*Art Ensemble of Chicago: 1976-03-12 Philadelphia (CDR) (disc 1)
*Pete Christlieb/Warne Marsh Quintet: Apogee
*Ornette Coleman: Celebrate Ornette (discs 1, 2, 3)
*New Ting Ting Loft: 2017-10-23 "Value-Added Air" (wav)
*New Ting Ting Loft: 2017-11-20 "Fluid Dispersal" (wav)
*David Oistrakh/Yehudi Menuhin/Igor Oistrakh: Vivaldi/Mozart/Schubert (BBC Legends)
*Tyshawn Sorey: The Inner Spectrum of Variables (disc 1)
*Tyshawn Sorey: Verisimilitude
*Henry Threadgill and the Society Situation Dance Band: 1988-10-23 Hamburg (CDR)
*Beatles: Hard Day's Night (2009 mono remaster)
*Clash: Sandinista! (disc 1)
*Bob Dylan: The 1966 Live Recordings (discs 13, 14)
*Mike Elder/Harry Forrest/Greg Jordan/Sam Byrd: 2017-11-17 (wav)
*Esquivel: The Space Age Sound of Esquivel
*Various artists: Anthology of Noise and Electronic Music vol. 2: Second a-chronology 1936-2003 (disc 2)
*Yardbirds: Live at the BBC (disc 1)

Reading List, Week of 2017-11-26

Reading List 2017-11-27:

*Shakespeare, William. Othello (ed. Gary Taylor, New Oxford Shakespeare, Critical Reference Ed.) (reread/started)
*Ditko, Steve, and Joe Gill. Ditko Monsters: Konga (started/finished)
*Le Carré, John. The Night Manager (finished)
*Lee, Stan, Jack Kirby, and Steve Ditko. Amazing Fantasy Omnibus (finished)
*Jackson, Holbrook. Anatomy of Bibliomania (in progress)
*Lopez, Jeremy. Constructing the Canon of Early Modern Drama (in progress)
*Silliman, Ron. The Alphabet (in progress)

Mountains to Climb

Already scaled Finnegans Wake once.... but once is not enough!

Playlist, Week of 2017-11-19

It's a pleasure to hear more sixties-pop-infused (with a touch o' Todd) pop rock from RVA's own Scott Brookman... brilliant, catchy melodies, beautifully produced and just plain charming... check out Smellicopter 2 on Bandcamp... Playing catch-up... have been enjoying Animal Collective's Painting With... maybe not as strong compositionally as Centipede Hz (which I prefer to Merriweather Post Pavilion), but really nice nonetheless... better than most critics would have you believe... One of the best indications of  Henry Threadgill's strength as a composer is just how little difference it made when the personnel of the Sextett changed over the years... from Olu Dara and Craig Harris to Rasul Siddik and Frank Lacy just didn't make that much difference in the overall sound... unlike some other groups, where individual members can really make their mark on how the music develops, with Threadgill I think his compositional focus overrides individual contributions... compare this to Air and New Air, where the difference of the drummer in fact made all the difference in the world... Air was more of an improvisational vehicle for Threadgill than a compositional one... although maybe it's a mistake on my part to think that Threadgill was even the nominal leader of Air...

Playlist 2017-11-20:

*Art Ensemble of Chicago with Muhal Richard Abrams: 1974-08-07 Laren, The Netherlands (CDR)
*Tim Berne's Snakeoil: Incidentals
*Paul Chambers: 1st Bassman
*Alex Cline's Flower Garland Orchestra: Oceans of Vows (disc 1)
*Decoy with Joe McPhee: Spontaneous Combustion (disc 2)
*Barry Guy/London Jazz Composers Orchestra: Study II, Stringer
*Roscoe Mitchell Trio: No Side Effects (disc 1)
*Roscoe Mitchell: Bells for the South Side (disc 2)
*New Air: Live at Montreal International Jazz Festival
*New Air: Air Show No. 1
*Charlie Parker: Unheard Bird: The Unissued Takes (disc 2)
*Tom Rainey Trio: 2017-09-09 Jazz Gallery, NYC (wav) (disc 2)
*Tyshawn Sorey: Verisimilitude
*Sun Ra: The Antique Blacks
*Henry Threadgill Sextett: 1985-09-27 Amsterdam (CDR)
*Henry Threadgill Sextett: You Know the Number
*Henry Threadgill: Easily Slip Into Another World
*Various artists: Anthology of Noise and Electronic Music vol. 2: Second a-chronology 1936-2003 (disc 1)
*Tony Williams Lifetime: Emergency! (selections)
*John Zorn/Simulacrum: 49 Acts of Unspeakable Depravity in the Abominable Life and Times of Gilles de Rais (selections)
*Animal Collective: Painting With
*Jose "Chepito" Areas: Jose "Chepito" Areas
*Scott Brookman: Smellicopter Two
*David Crosby: If I Could Only Remember My Name
*Bob Dylan: The 1966 Live Recordings (discs 11, 12)
*Foo Fighters: Concrete and Gold
*Grant Hart: The Argument
*Steve Miller/Lol Coxhill: "The Story So Far​.​.​." ".​.​.​Oh Really?" (disc 2)
*Ozric Tentacles: Strangeitude (disc 1)
*Rascals: Freedom Suite (side 4)
*Kelley Stoltz: Circular Sounds
*Various artists: Space Age Cocktail Lounge (discs 2, 3)
*Various artists: "The Sound of Wonder!": The First Wave of Plugged-In Pop at the Pakistani Picture House
*Yes: The Yes Album
*Yes: Progeny: Highlights From Seventy-Two

Reading List, Week of 2017-11-19

*Lee, Stan, Jack Kirby, and Steve Ditko. Amazing Fantasy Omnibus (started)
*Lopez, Jeremy. Constructing the Canon of Early Modern Drama (started)
*Corbett, John. "Ephemera Underscored: Writing Around Free Improvisation," in Jazz Among the Discourses, ed. Krin Gabbard (started/finished)
*Willingham, Bill, et al. Fables: The Deluxe Edition Book Fourteen (started/finished)
*Willingham, Bill, et al. Fables: The Deluxe Edition Book Thirteen (finished)
*Jackson, Holbrook. Anatomy of Bibliomania (in progress)
*Le Carré, John. The Night Manager (in progress)
*Silliman, Ron. The Alphabet (in progress)

The Reader's Whims

Systematic reading is of little help. Following an official book list (of classics, of literary history, of censored or recommended reading, of library catalogues) may, by chance, throw up a useful name, as long as we bear in mind the motives behind the lists. But the best guides, I believe, are the reader's whims--trust in pleasure and faith in haphazardness--which sometimes lead us into a makeshift state of grace, allowing us to spin gold out of flax. (Alberto Manguel, A Reader on Reading, 2010, pp. 7-8)

Playlist, Week of 2017-11-12

The Henry Threadgill sweep continues, this week with a large chunk of early Sextet records, all of which are brilliant... in many ways, these early LPs on the About Time label are my favorite Threadgill recordings (especially Subject to Change)... they share a lot sonically and organizationally with the early David Murray Octet records (which Threadgill played on)... Finally checked out the new remix of the Beatles Live at the Hollywood Bowl album... I guess it's an improvement... at least the crowd sounds are reduced somewhat... and of course it's great to have "You Can't Do That" as a bonus track!... so: why not just release all of the 1964 and 1965 Hollywood Bowl recordings, instead of just recreating an album that George Martin didn't care much for putting together in the first place?

Playlist 2017-11-13:

*Air: 80° Below 82'
*Daniel Barbiero/Cristiano Bocci: Non-Places
*Anthony Braxton: Trillium J (disc 2)
*Roscoe Mitchell Trio: Angel City
*RAIC: 2017-10-14 Etching Tin Recording Studio, RVA "Balance of the Three" (wav)
*Henry Threadgill Sextet: When Was That?
*Henry Threadgill Sextett: 1982-06-29 Kool Jazz Festival, NYC (CDR)
*Henry Threadgill Sextet: Just the Facts and Pass the Bucket
*Henry Threadgill Sextet: Subject to Change
*Iannis Xenakis: Orchestral Works & Chamber Music
*Amon Duul II: Yeti
*Les Baxter: Ports of Pleasure
*Beatles: Live at the Hollywood Bowl (2016 remix)
*Bob Dylan: The 1966 Live Recordings (disc 10)
*Russ Garcia: Fantasica: Music from Outer Space
*Hotel X: 2017-10-18 WRIR Studios, RVA (mp3)
*Steve Miller/Lol Coxhill: "The Story So Far​.​.​." ".​.​.​Oh Really?" (disc 1)
*Various artists: Space Age Cocktail Lounge (disc 1)

Reading List, Week of 2017-11-12

Reading List 2017-11-13:

*Willingham, Bill, et al. Fables: The Deluxe Edition Book Thirteen (started)
*Jowett, John. "Shakespeare and the Kingdom of Error," in The New Oxford Shakespeare: The Complete Works, Critical Reference Edition, Vol. 1 (started/finished)
*Rasula, Jed. "The Media of Memory: The Seductive Menace of Records in Jazz History," in Jazz Among the Discourses, ed. Krin Gabbard (started/finished)
*Willingham, Bill, et al. Fables: The Deluxe Edition Book Eleven (reread/started/finished)
*Willingham, Bill, et al. Fables: The Deluxe Edition Book Twelve (reread/started/finished)
*Mullan, John. What Matters in Jane Austen? (finished)
*Willingham, Bill, et al. Fables: The Deluxe Edition Book Nine (reread/finished)
*Willingham, Bill, et al. Fables: The Deluxe Edition Book Ten (reread/finished)
*Jackson, Holbrook. Anatomy of Bibliomania (in progress)
*Le Carré, John. The Night Manager (in progress)
*Silliman, Ron. The Alphabet (in progress)

Playlist, Week of 2017-11-05

Saddened to hear of Muhal Richard Abram's death... a major inspirational figure for me, both in his playing and composing, and in his stature as a leader and mentor for so, so many musicians, of the AACM and beyond... check out Brian Olewnick's piece on him written last year... Olewnick says: "I doggedly followed along for a good while, however, I think up until "One Line, Two Views" (New World, 1995) at which point I gave up. So I may well have missed some fine music subsequently." Yes, Brian, you did... besides the several live recordings of Muhal trios with Roscoe Mitchell and George Lewis (plus the album Streaming), there were many other recordings of note from the last twenty years: Spectrum, Made in Chicago, Vision Towards Essence, the 2016 Milan quintet date, and the incredible Experimental Band live recording from 2012... after I finish my Threadgill sweep, I'll definitely need to go through all my Muhal recordings... I've been enjoying exploring various Krautrock groups over the past few years... on one hand, I regret not being exposed to the music of Can, Faust, Amon Düül II, Faust, Neu, etc. when it first came out... on the other hand, I probably wasn't ready for it then... I definitely wasn't ready for Sun Ra when I was younger... I'm still learning...

Playlist 2017-11-06

*Air: Air Mail
*Tim Berne's Snakeoil: Incidentals
*Anthony Braxton: Trillium J (disc 1)
*Paul Chambers: Go...
*Pete Christlieb/Warne Marsh Quintet: Apogee
*Barry Guy New Orchestra & Elliott Sharp: 2009-11-06 Berlin (CDR)
*Barry Guy New Orchestra: Amphi • Radio Rondo
*Noah Howard: The Black Ark
*Roscoe Mitchell: Bells for the South Side (disc 1)
*New Ting Ting Loft: 2017-10-23 "Value-Added Air" (wav)
*Tom Rainey Trio: 2017-09-09 Jazz Gallery, NYC (wav) (disc 1)
*Tyshawn Sorey: Verisimilitude
*James Blood Ulmer with The Thing: Baby Talk
*Nate Wooley: Battle Pieces 2
*Iannis Xenakis: Terretektorh/Nomos Gamma
*Amon Düül II: The UA Years 1969-1974
*Animal Collective: Painting With
*Becker and Fagen: Early Demos and More (1969-81)
*Big Walnuts Yonder: Big Walnuts Yonder
*Tommy Bolin & Friends: Live at Ebbets Field June 3 & 4, 1974
*Deerhoof: Mountain Moves
*Bob Dylan: The 1966 Live Recordings (disc 9)
*ESP Ohio: Starting Point Of The Royal Cyclopean

Reading List, Week of 2017-11-05

Getting caught up....

Reading List 2017-11-06:

*Le Carré, John. The Night Manager (started)
*Willingham, Bill, et al.  Fables: The Deluxe Edition Book Nine (reread/started)
*Vonnegut, Kurt. Slaughterhouse-Five, or The Children's Crusade: A Duty-Dance with Death (started/finished)
*Vaughan, Brian K., and Fiona Staples. Saga, Volume 6 (started/finished)
*Shakespeare, William. The New Oxford Shakespeare: The Complete Works (introductory matter only) (finished)
*Vaughan, Brian K., and Fiona Staples. Saga, Volume 5 (finished)
*Jackson, Holbrook. Anatomy of Bibliomania (in progress)
*Mullan, John. What Matters in Jane Austen? (in progress)
*Silliman, Ron. The Alphabet (in progress)

The Experience of Reading

The experience of reading is always the experience of language, even though many readers don’t stop often enough to acknowledge this. We read artfully arranged words that in works of literature create “meaning” only relative to their arrangement, which is not the arrangement to be found in newspaper columns or political speeches. A critic should be sensitive to the particular kind of arrangement—which includes the arrangement into “form”—found in a particular work. Even leaping ahead to “story” or “setting” distorts our actual experience of the work unless we also notice the way the writer has used language to create the illusion of story and the illusion of setting. (Daniel Green, "An interview with literary critic Daniel Green about his new book, Beyond the Blurb" by Edwin Turner, 2016)

Playlist, Week of 2017-10-29

Some of my favorite Ornette Coleman compositions are his various works for strings and woodwinds... Prime Design/Time Design features a string quartet plus Denardo Coleman on drums... it's a killer combination, and should be more widely known, if not revered... the piece is primarily atonal and cacophonous, but it ends with a brief melody that's as beautiful as any piece he wrote... Short list this week, been kinda busy...

Playlist 2017-10-30:

*Air: 1979-06-25 Rome (CDR)
*Ornette Coleman: Prime Design/Time Design
*Dave Holland Quartet: 1972-12-01 Studio Rivbea, NYC (CDR) (disc 2)
*New Ting Ting Loft: 2017-10-23 "Value-Added Air" (wav)
*NVS Trio: 2016-12-12 Rhizome, Washington DC (wav)
*Return to Forever: No Mystery
*New Tony Williams Lifetime: Live at the Village Gate
*Animal Collective: Painting With
*Can: The Singles
*Deerhoof: The Magic

Reading List, Week of 2017-10-29

Just  brilliant....

Reading List 2017-10-30:

*Mullan, John. What Matters in Jane Austen? (started)
*Vaughan, Brian K., and Fiona Staples. Saga, Volume 5 (started)
*Vaughan, Brian K., and Fiona Staples. Saga, Volume 4 (reread/started/finished)
*Vaughan, Brian K., and Fiona Staples. Saga, Volume 3 (reread/started/finished)
*Vaughan, Brian K., and Fiona Staples. Saga, Volume 2 (reread/started/finished)
*Vaughan, Brian K., and Fiona Staples. Saga, Volume 1 (reread/started/finished)
*Austen, Jane. Emma (reread/started/finished)
*Pullman, Philip. The Book of Dust, Vol. 1: La Belle Sauvage (finished)
*Jackson, Holbrook. Anatomy of Bibliomania (in progress)
*Shakespeare, William. The New Oxford Shakespeare: The Complete Works (introductory matter only) (in progress)
*Silliman, Ron. The Alphabet (in progress)

Playlist, Week of 2017-10-22

The Henry Threadgill sweep continues, with more Air and also Threadgill's early masterpiece X-75 Volume 1, one of my favorite jazz albums of the late '70s... with its unusual instrumentation of four woodwinds (mostly flutes), four basses, and the wonderful Amina Claudine Myers on vocals, the album casts a wonderful spell unique to Threadgill's discography... the Mosaic box set devoted to his complete Novus and Columbia recordings adds a full album's worth of unreleased material to constitute a Volume 2... the only difference being the lack of Myers... still, great stuff... and Threadgill's alto sax solo on "Fe Fi Fo Fum" is a showstopper... I recently dug out Apogee again and reminded myself of what a masterpiece it is... definitely one of the greatest tenor sax albums out there... the pairing of Pete Christlieb and Warne Marsh is sublime... Christlieb's playing is soulful and satisfying in a "Deacon Blues" kind of way, while Marsh is more abstract and angular, demonstrating conclusively how massive an influence on Anthony Braxton he has been... together, their playing sparks so much I swear I can see flames coming off the turntable... Always a pleasure to hear new Tom Rainey and Ingrid Laubrock... I love Rainey's approach to standards that he uses with his Obbligato group...

Playlist 2017-10-23:

*Air: Montreux Suisse Air
*Air: Air Lore
*Art Ensemble of Chicago: People in Sorrow
*Pete Christlieb/Warne Marsh Quintet: Apogee
*Ornette Coleman: Prime Design/Time Design
*Decoy with Joe McPhee: Spontaneous Combustion (disc 1)
*Dave Holland Quartet: 1972-12-01 Studio Rivbea, NYC (CDR) (disc 1)
*Roland Kirk Quartet: Rip, Rig, and Panic
*Steve Miller/Lol Coxhill: "The Story So Far​.​.​." ".​.​.​Oh Really?" (disc 2)
*Roscoe Mitchell: Bells for the South Side
*New Ting Ting Loft: 2017-10-09 "Fight Back in the Kitchen" (wav)
*Charlie Parker: Unheard Bird: The Unissued Takes (disc 1)
*Evan Parker/Derek Bailey/Han Bennink: The Topography of the Lungs
*Evan Parker: Monoceros
*Evan Parker & AMM: Title Goes Here
*RAIC: 2017-10-14 Etching Tin Recording Studio, RVA "Balance of the Three" (wav)
*Tom Rainey Obbligato: Float Upstream
*Tom Rainey Trio: 2017-09-09 Jazz Gallery, NYC (wav)
*Return to Forever: Where Have I Known You Before
*Matana Roberts: Coin Coin Chapter One: Les Gens de Couleur Libres
*Henry Threadgill: X-75 Volume 1
*Henry Threadgill: X-75 Volume 2
*Charles Tyler: Saga of the Outlaws
*Animal Collective: Painting With
*Tommy Bolin & Friends: Live at Ebbets Field June 3 & 4, 1974
*Bob Dylan: The 1966 Live Recordings (discs 6, 7, 8)
*Funkadelic: Music for Your Mother: Funkadelic 45s  (disc 2)
*Elvis Presley: A Boy From Tupelo: The Complete 1953-55 Recordings (disc 1)
*Space Debris: Behind the Gate (disc 1)
*Steely Dan: Gaucho Outtakes and Demos (1979-80)
*Various artists: Ethiopiques Vol. 24: Golden Years of Modern Ethiopian Music (1969-1975)

Reading List, Week of 2017-10-22

Reading List 2017-10-23:

*Pullman, Philip. The Book of Dust, vol. 1: La Belle Sauvage (started)
*Andersen, T. R. "Mapping the World: Thomas Pynchon's Global Novels," in Orbit: Writing around Pynchon 4(1), 2016 (started/finished)
*King, Stephen, and Owen King. Sleeping Beauties (finished)
*The New Oxford Shakespeare: Authorship Companion (ed. Gary Taylor and Gabriel Egan) (finished)
*Jackson, Holbrook. Anatomy of Bibliomania (in progress)
*Shakespeare, William. The New Oxford Shakespeare: The Complete Works (introductory matter only) (in progress)
*Silliman, Ron. The Alphabet (in progress)

RAIC in the Studio

RAIC was in Etching Tin Studio over the weekend, and Samuel Goff invited me to join RAIC for the session to perform "Balance of the Three" (the piece we played at WRIR back in February). The session turned out great, and we got a nice recording, which should show up at some point on a RAIC release. Ten musicians, including three drummers! Here are some photos:

Samuel Goff

waiting to play

Playlist, Week of 2017-10-15

Beginning to delve into this massive Dylan box... I'm familiar with many of the shows from bootlegs, but of course this is far better sound and way more comprehensive... I am starting to warm up to the new Deerhoof CD... it's taking a while, but there are definitely interesting moments scattered throughout... Greg Saunier's drumming is a bit more subdued, and there aren't as many hooks, and I'm not as fond of the guests' appearances... but hey, I'm cranky... and I take it back: Matana Robert's short contribution is wonderful... For my Threadgill sweep, I am restricting it to groups he led or was a co-member of, so it's Air to start off with, and then the various Sextettes, Zooids, etc. but not recordings on which he was a guest... and working through the Air recordings I am once again reminded how amazing a drummer Steve McCall was... as I've mentioned before, I was fortunate to see him play with Arthur Blythe at the Village Vanguard (along with Fred Hopkins)... never got to see Air, though... Great solid hard bop from Paul Chambers, especially the sessions with Coltrane... I used to despise (well, that's a strong word; maybe scorn would be better) "jazz guitar"... it just all sounded so weak to me compared to Hendrix... well, I'm older now... my tastes have not mellowed, but I do enjoy Kenny Burrell's work on Whims of Chambers... I may not be ready for Joe Pass, but I am not adverse to checking out Wes Montgomery or Grant Green... what does that say about me?

Playlist 2017-10-16:

*Air: Air Song
*Air: Live Air
*Air: Air Raid
*Air: Air Time
*Air: Open Air Suit
*Susan Alcorn/Ingrid Laubrock/Leila Bordreuil: 2017-08-18 Brooklyn NY (CDR)
*Taylor Ho Bynum Sextet & 7-tette: Navigation (The Complete Firehouse 12 Recordings) (disc 2)
*Paul Chambers: Chambers' Music
*Paul Chambers Sextet: Whims of Chambers
*Paul Chambers Quintet: Paul Chambers Quintet
*Pete Christlieb/Warne Marsh Quintet: Apogee
*Noah Howard: Patterns/Message to South Africa
*Ingrid Laubrock: 2017-06-05 Moers (CDR)
*Allen Lowe: Jews in Hell: Radical Jewish Acculturation (disc 2)
*Mahavishnu Orchestra: Birds of Fire
*Steve Miller/Lol Coxhill: "The Story So Far​.​.​." ".​.​.​Oh Really?" (disc 1)
*New Ting Ting Loft: 2017-10-09 "Fight Back in the Kitchen" (wav)
*Sun Ra and His Mythic Science Arkestra: The Paris Tapes: Live at le Theatre du Chatelet 1971 (disc 1)
*Various artists: Jazzmen: Detroit
*Various artists: Wildflowers: The New York Jazz Loft Sessions, Complete (disc 1)
*John Zorn/Rashanim: Masada Rock
*Can: Soundtracks
*Deerhoof: Mountain Moves
*Bob Dylan: The 1966 Live Recordings (discs 1, 2, 3, 4, 5)
*Funkadelic: Music for Your Mother: Funkadelic 45s  (disc 1)
*Guided By Voices: August by Cake
*Devadip Carlos Santana: Oneness: Silver Dreams - Golden Reality
*Soul Brothers Six: Some Kind of Wonderful (CDR compilation) (disc 1)
*Steely Dan: Gaucho Outtakes and Demos (1979-80)
*Various artists: Best of the British Dance Bands
*Various artists: Eccentric Soul: The Forte Label
*Various artists: Bombay Disco 2

Reading List, Week of 2017-10-15

Reading List 2017-10-16:

*King, Stephen, and Owen King. Sleeping Beauties (started)
*Jackson, Holbrook. Anatomy of Bibliomania (in progress)
*The New Oxford Shakespeare: Authorship Companion (ed. Gary Taylor and Gabriel Egan) (in progress)
*Shakespeare, William. The New Oxford Shakespeare: The Complete Works (introductory matter only) (in progress)
*Silliman, Ron. The Alphabet (in progress)

Tom Rainey

Excellent interview with drummer Tom Rainey over at Point of Departure. His list of drummers he was listening to in his early 20s is eerily similar to mine (if you add Robert Wyatt and Mitch Mitchell, and take away Gene Krupa and Buddy Rich):

TC: That makes perfect sense to me. Who do you consider your primary influences?

TR: The drummers that influenced me the most were all in my favorite bands. A brief and somewhat chronological list would look like: Ringo Starr (Beatles), Gene Krupa (Benny Goodman), Buddy Rich (Buddy Rich Big Band), Jack DeJohnette (Charles Lloyd and Miles Davis), Dave Garibaldi (Tower of Power), Billy Cobham (Mahavishnu Orchestra), Alphonse Mouzon and Eric Gravat (Weather Report), Tony Williams (Miles Davis), Elvin Jones (John Coltrane), Ed Blackwell and Billy Higgins (Ornette Coleman), and Paul Motian (Paul Motian Quintet and Trio). There is so much more music across every genre that has informed me and this list represents only what I listened to through childhood into my early 20’s.

Playlist, Week of 2017-10-08

I am enjoying exploring some older Steve Coleman music, especially Genesis... I used to have a couple of his early albums, but they didn't grab me when they came out... this stuff does... The compilation of James Brown appearances on Soul Train is damn hot... short, concentrated, tight... It's been a while since I've done a full chronological run through all of a particular artist's recordings in my collection... I've done this previously with John Coltrane, Miles Davis, Anthony Braxton, Cecil Taylor, Art Ensemble of Chicago, and Sam Rivers... it's about time for Henry Threadgill, maybe next week or the week after... in the meanwhile, I'm digging Old Locks and Irregular Verbs... Sun Ra as comfort food: Holiday for Soul Dance is good for what ails you (especially the title track)...

Playlist 2017-10-09:

*Susan Alcorn/Ingrid Laubrock/Leila Bordreuil: 2017-08-18 Brooklyn NY (CDR)
*Steve Coleman and the Council of Balance: Genesis
*Steve Coleman and the Mystic Rhythm Society: Myths, Modes, and Means
*Barry Guy New Orchestra: Oort-Entropy
*Return to Forever: No Mystery
*Sun Ra and His Astro Infinity Arkestra: Holiday for Soul Dance
*Sun Ra and His Solar Arkestra: Other Planes of There
*Henry Threadgill Ensemble Double Up: Old Locks and Irregular Verbs
*Becker and Fagen: Early Demos and More (1969-81)
*Blue Cheer: Outsideinside
*David Bowie: Heroes
*David Bowie: Lodger
*James Brown: Soul Train Live
*Mike Elder/Harry Forrest/Greg Jordan/Sam Byrd: New CDR Compilation (disc 2)
*Al Green: Al Green Gets Next to You
*Temptations: Psychedelic Soul (disc 1)
*Various artists: Klangstudie and Komposition
*Various artists: Eccentric Soul: The Dynamic Label
*Various artists: Soul of a Nation: Afro-Centric Visions in the Age of Black Power
*Various artists: "Life Is Dance!": Plugged-In Sounds of Wonder at the Pakistani Picture House

Reading List, Week of 2017-10-08

Reading List 2017-10-09:

*McGuire, Richard. Here (started/finished)
*Jackson, Holbrook. Anatomy of Bibliomania (in progress)
*The New Oxford Shakespeare: Authorship Companion (ed. Gary Taylor and Gabriel Egan) (in progress)
*Shakespeare, William. The New Oxford Shakespeare: The Complete Works (introductory matter only) (in progress)
*Silliman, Ron. The Alphabet (in progress)

Playlist, Week of 2017-09-24

Been enjoying digging through the three Ol' Virginia Soul compilations... like many collections of obscure regional soul and funk, there's a fair amount of derivative misses... I do think that for the most part there was a reason these weren't hits, and it wasn't just weak distribution... that being said, there are also many fine gems of wonderfully unadulterated raw soul... Loving Ingrid Laubrock's compositions for chamber orchestra and choir, with soloists including Kris Davis and Nate Wooley, as recently featured at the Moers Festival... Nice set from Communicating Vessels (with Daniel Barbiero) up on archive.org...

Playlist 2017-09-25:

*Susan Alcorn/Ingrid Laubrock/Leila Bordreuil: 2017-08-18 Brooklyn NY (CDR)
*Daniel Barbiero/Cristiano Bocci: Non-Places
*Anthony Braxton: Eight (+3) Tristano Compositions 1989: For Warne Marsh
*Anthony Braxton: Knitting Factory (Piano/Quartet) 1994, Vol. 1 (disc 2)
*Taylor Ho Bynum Sextet & 7-tette: Navigation (The Complete Firehouse 12 Recordings) (disc 1)
*Philip Cohran and the Artistic Heritage Ensemble: Singles
*Steve Coleman and the Council of Balance: Genesis
*Communicating Vessels: 2017-09-17 Rhizome, Washington DC (streaming)
*Barry Guy New Orchestra: Oort-Entropy
*Kip Hanrahan: Vertical’s Currency
*Kip Hanrahan: A Few Short Notes from the End Run
*Shannon Jackson & the Decoding Society: Eye on You
*Ingrid Laubrock: 2017-06-05 Moers (CDR)
*Allen Lowe: Jews in Hell: Radical Jewish Acculturation (disc 1)
*Roscoe Mitchell Trio: Angel City
*New Ting Ting Loft: 2017-09-11 "Intention Span" (wav)
*New Ting Ting Loft: 2017-09-18 "Rocket Soul Revue" (wav)
*Sun Ra: The Great Lost Sun Ra Albums: Cymbals & Crystal Spears (disc 2) "Sunrise in the Western Sky"
*Thing with Jim O'Rourke: Shinjuku Growl
*James Brown: Soul Train Live
*D’Angelo: Brown Sugar (Deluxe Ed.) (disc 2)
*Mike Elder/Harry Forrest/Greg Jordan/Sam Byrd: New CDR Compilation (disc 1)
*Jefferson Pilot: Hello Mississippi
*Mark Nauseef & Miroslav Tadić: The Snake Music
*Various artists: Anthology of Noise and Electronic Music vol. 1: First a-chronology 1921-2001 (disc 2)
*Various artists: Classroom Projects: Incredible Music Made by Children in Schools
*Various artists: Ol' Virginia Soul, Part 2: Funky Virginia
*Various artists: Eccentric Soul: The Nickel & Penny Labels

Playlist, Week of 2017-10-01

Some traveling music....

Playlist 2017-10-02:

*Beach Boys: 50 Big Ones
*Beatles: With the Beatles (2009 mono remaster)
*Beatles: Beatles for Sale (2009 mono remaster)
*Beatles: Mono Masters (2009 mono remaster) (disc 2)
*D’Angelo and the Vanguard: Black Messiah
*Deerhoof: Offend Maggie
*Deerhoof: Mountain Moves
*Hüsker Dü: Candy Apple Grey
*King Tubby: Two Big Bull in a One Pen Dubwise
*Prince: Released (CDR compilation)

Reading List, Week of 2017-10-01

Reading List 2017-10-02:

*Jackson, Holbrook. Anatomy of Bibliomania (in progress)
*The New Oxford Shakespeare: Authorship Companion (ed. Gary Taylor and Gabriel Egan) (in progress)
*Shakespeare, William. The New Oxford Shakespeare: The Complete Works (introductory matter only) (in progress)
*Silliman, Ron. The Alphabet (in progress)

Sun Ra's "The Magic City" and "My Brother the Wind Vol. 1" on Cosmic Myth Records

I picked up these new reissues on CD from Cosmic Myth Records, and I have to say they have done a fantastic job with these. The sound is clear and vibrant, definitely the best I've ever heard this material. The presentation is wonderful as well--both discs have excellent liner notes with detailed essays full of fresh insights and new research that do a great job of giving context and analysis. Most of the material on these discs can be streamed at Bandcamp, but I highly recommend picking up the physical objects, both for the superior fidelity and for the packaging.

My Brother the Wind Vol. 1 includes two alternate takes (and four false starts and warmups!) of "The Perfect Man." The alternate takes are revelatory in showing how the arrangement changed. John Gilmore is on drums for the first take, with Marshall Allen attempting (and not quite nailing) the loopy melody on oboe. It's wonderful to hear how the piece developed to its final state as the masterpiece it is (with one of my all-time favorite Gilmore sax solos). The whole album is, of course, amazing, displaying how quickly and deeply Ra mastered the moog and made it his own.

The Magic City presents the entire album in stereo for the first time, and the added clarity and detail in the title track are well worth it. My only quibble would be that they could have easily also included the entire mono version of the title track rather than just the unique last couple of minutes. That would have made the disc more complete. But there's always the Evidence disc, so I'm not complaining.

These reissues really set the standard high for Ra recordings, so cheers and hats off to Cosmic Myth Records for a job well done.