Playlist, Week of 2018-04-29

Lots more new Sun Ra making the scene... always a pleasure... I'm really digging the newly released music from the Cymbals sessions in 1973.... Note that two tracks here also appeared (under different names) on Sign of the Myth... and "The Universe Is Calling" originally appeared as "Jazz and Romantic Sounds" on Out There a Minute... still, it's wonderful to have the entire session all in one place, and in much improved sound... Also thoroughly entranced by Mats Gustafsson's Fire! Orchestra... skronk big-band with great grooves and mesmerizing vocals... Dug up an old cassette I recorded of Arthur Blythe with John Hicks, Steve McCall, and Fred Hopkins at the Village Vanguard... I saw Blythe several times in the '80s, but this was the only time I saw his In the Tradition quartet... really amazing, blistering alto sax... and great to hear McCall in this free-bop/swing context... he is just burning!...

Playlist 2018-04-30:

*Muhal Richard Abrams: One Line, Two Views
*Tony Allen: The Source
*Arthur Blythe/In the Tradition: 1982-02-18 Village Vanguard, NYC (CDR) (disc 1)
*Peter Brötzmann Trio: Mayday
*Sylvie Courvoisier/Mark Feldman/Ikue Mori/Evan Parker: Miller's Tale
*Fire! Orchestra: Exit!
*Fire! Orchestra: Enter
*Fire! Orchestra: Ritual
*Stan Getz and Joano Gilberto: Getz/Gilberto
*Annette Hanshaw: The Twenties Sweetheart
*Graham Haynes: Transition
*Rob Mazurek/Exploding Star Orchestra Featuring Roscoe Mitchell: Matter Anti-Matter (disc 1)
*Steve Miller/Lol Coxhill: "The Story So Far​.​.​." ".​.​.​Oh Really?" (disc 2)
*Roscoe Mitchell: Songs in the Wind
*Roscoe Mitchell: Bells for the South Side (disc 2)
*Ray Noble & His Orchestra featuring Al Bowlly: The Very Thought of You
*Sun Ra & His Astro-Infinity Arkestra: Sign of the Myth
*Sun Ra & His Arkestra: The Cymbals​/​Symbols Sessions (New York, 1973) (streaming)
*Sun Ra: 1980-02-05 Squat Theatre, NYC (CDR)
*Craig Taborn: Daylight Ghosts
*Cecil Taylor Quartet: 1969-11-02 London (CDR)
*Cecil Taylor Big Band: 1995-07-03 NYC (CDR) (discs 1, 2)
*Cecil Taylor/Tony Oxley: 2007-06-08 London (CDR)
*Cecil Taylor/Tony Oxley: 2007-10-11 Modena, Italy (CDR)
*Fred Astaire: Starring Fred Astaire (disc 1)
*John Barry: Goldfinger (Original Motion Picture Score)
*Flight of the Conchords: Flight of the Conchords
*Grateful Dead: 1969-02-22 Vallejo CA (CDR) (disc 2)
*George Harrison: All Things Must Pass (disc 2)
*King Crimson: Live In Vienna (disc 1)
*Dean Martin: The Essential Dean Martin
*Lee Perry: I Am the Upsetter (disc 4)
*Todd Rundgren: Runt + The Alternate Runt (disc 2)
*Sonic Youth: NYC Ghosts & Flowers
*Sonic Youth: Murray Street
*Sonic Youth: Sonic Nurse
*Sonic Youth with Mats Gustafsson and Merzbow: Andre Sider Af Sonic Youth
*Various artists: History of Electronic/Electroacoustic Music (CDR compilation) (discs 5, 6)
*Various artists: Eccentric Soul: Smart's Palace
*Yes: 1975-07-23 Providence RI (CDR) (disc 2)

Reading List, Week of 2018-04-29

Reading List 2018-04-30:

*Fish, Stanley. Surprised by Sin: The Reader in Paradise Lost (started)
*Le Carré, John. The Tailor of Panama (started)
*Kirkman, Robert, et al. The Walking Dead (issues 115-130) (started/finished)
*Jackson, Holbrook. Anatomy of Bibliomania (in progress)
*Milton, John. Paradise Lost (reread/in progress)

Playlist, Week of 2018-04-22

So, inspired by the music of Matt Mitchell and Kate Gentile, I've been going back to the Tim Berne's Snakeoil albums... these are really excellent, and are easily my favorite Berne recordings... and in a nice stroke of serendipity, I just stumbled on this, even though it came out last month: the always insightful Hank Shteamer wrote this blog post about Snakeoil which is definitely worth checking out... Always a pleasure to go back to the old original Art Ensemble sessions... And how wonderful it was that Cecil Taylor and Anthony Braxton played together, back in 2007... already over ten years ago, holy crap... too bad they didn't make it to the studio, but the live performances are choice...

Playlist 2018-04-23:

*Muhal Richard Abrams: Song for All
*Art Ensemble: 1967/68 (discs 1, 2, 3)
*Tim Berne: Snakeoil
*Tim Berne’s Snakeoil: Shadow Man
*Tim Berne's Snakeoil: You've Been Watching Me
*Tim Berne's Snakeoil: Incidentals
*Anthony Braxton: Trillium R: Composition 162 - An Opera in Four Acts/Shala Fears for the Poor (disc 1)
*Anthony Braxton: Sextet (Parker) 1993 (disc 8) (streaming)
*Rodger Coleman and Sam Byrd: 2017-12-27 Nashville (selections)
*Steve Coleman and the Council of Balance: Genesis
*Miles Davis: Seven Steps: The Complete Columbia Recordings Of Miles Davis 1963-1964 (discs 1, 2)
*Eric Dolphy: Berlin Concerts
*E.S.T.: Leucocyte
*Kate Gentile: Mannequins
*Vijay Iyer Sextet: Far from Over
*Ingrid Laubrock: Serpentines
*Mahavishnu Orchestra: 1973-02-24 Rindge, NH (CDR)
*Matt Mitchell: A Pouting Grimace
*Roscoe Mitchell Trio: No Side Effects (disc 1)
*Roscoe Mitchell: Bells for the South Side (disc 1)
*Roscoe Mitchell Discussions Orchestra: Discussions
*Tom Rainey Trio: Hotel Grief
*Return to Forever: Where Have I Known You Before
*Tyshawn Sorey: The Inner Spectrum of Variables (disc 2)
*Sun Ra: Of Abstract Dreams (streaming)
*Cecil Taylor Unit: One Too Many Salty Swift and Not Goodbye
*Cecil Taylor Quartet featuring Anthony Braxton: 2007-06-08 London (CDR)
*Amon Düül II: The UA Years 1969-1974
*Mike Elder/Harry Forrest/Greg Jordan/Sam Byrd: 2018-04-07 (wav)
*5uu's: Hunger's Teeth
*Funkadelic: Reworked by Detroiters (disc 1)
*Grails: Doomsdayer's Holiday
*Henry Kaiser: Everything Forever
*Mars Volta: Frances the Mute
*Steve Miller/Lol Coxhill: "The Story So Far​.​.​." ".​.​.​Oh Really?" (disc 1)
*Neu!: Neu!
*OOIOO: Shock City Shockers, Vol. 2: OOIOO Remix
*Sonic Youth: Dirty
*Sonic Youth: Experimental Jet Set, Trash and No Star
*Sonic Youth: Washing Machine
*Sonic Youth: A Thousand Leaves
*Various artists: History of Electronic/Electroacoustic Music (CDR compilation) (disc 4)
*Various artists: The Telugu Connection (CDR)
*Junior Wells' Chicago Blues Band: Hoodoo Man Blues
*Wire: Chairs Missing
*X-Legged Sally: Compilation CD [1986-1997]
*Neil Young: Tonight’s the Night

Reading List, Week of 2018-04-22

Reading List 2018-04-23:

*Milton, John. Paradise Lost (reread/started)
*Kirkman, Robert, et al. The Walking Dead (issues 111-114) (started/finished)
*Boyle, James, Jennifer Jenkins, and Keith Aoki. Theft! A History of Music (finished)
*Christgau, Robert. Christgau's Consumer Guide: Albums of the '90s (finished)
*Corey, James S. A. Persepolis Rising (finished)
*Gould, Jonathan. Otis Redding: An Unfinished Life (finished)
*Jackson, Holbrook. Anatomy of Bibliomania (in progress)

Playlist, Week of 2018-04-15

 

Two recent albums featuring pianist Matt Mitchell and drummer Kate Gentile have been exciting me for the last few weeks: Mitchell's A Pouting Grimace and Gentile's Mannequins... both of these were on several of last year's best-of lists, and with good reason... both have compositions with intriguing, knotty melodic lines that turn and twist on themselves... Mitchell's piano and electronics work is exquisite, and Gentile is a clean inventive drummer whose textures sometimes evoke Chris Cutler... in fact, much of this music evokes the improvisational textures of late-era Henry Cow, which makes sense when you consider that Mitchell used to play in Thinking Plague... Mitchell's music is also more than a little related to the work he's done with Tim Berne's Snakeoil... I continue to revisit Sonic Youth with awe at the sheer, oh I don't know, guitar-ness of it all... I don't know when I'll return in depth to Cecil Taylor... I am still reeling from the news of his death... In the meanwhile, I plan on continuing to explore Muhal Richard Abrams and Roscoe Mitchell... especially since this week marks the ending of my Henry Threadgill listening spree... for me, the studio albums are far stronger than all the live shows, especially the Zooid ones... and his two most recent albums, In for a Penny and Old Locks are among his strongest ever...

Playlist 2018-04-16:

*AMM: Fine
*Lotte Anker/Craig Taborn/Gerald Cleaver: Triptych
*Tim Berne's Snakeoil: You've Been Watching Me
*Rodger Coleman and Sam Byrd: 2017-12-27 Nashville (selections)
*Decoy & Joe McPhee: Oto
*Tomas Fujiwara: Triple Double
*Kate Gentile: Mannequins
*Barry Guy New Orchestra: Oort-Entropy
*Matt Mitchell: A Pouting Grimace
*Roscoe Mitchell: Duets with Tyshawn Sorey and Special Guest Hugh Ragin
*Roscoe Mitchell: Bells for the South Side (disc 2)
*New Ting Ting Loft: 2018-03-19 "Cornering the Market" (wav)
*New Ting Ting Loft: 2018-03-26 "Bowser Intake Ratio" (wav)
*New Ting Ting Loft: 2018-04-02 "Hold It Against Me" (wav)
*Wadada Leo Smith: Najwa
*Tyshawn Sorey: The Inner Spectrum of Variables (disc 1)
*Tyshawn Sorey: Verisimilitude
*Sun Ra: selections (Bandcamp streaming)
*Henry Threadgill Zooid: In for a Penny, In for a Pound
*Henry Threadgill Ensemble Double Up: Old Locks and Irregular Verbs
*Henry Threadgill Zooid: 2017-03-26 Knoxville TN (CDR)
*Lily Allen: Sheezus
*Colin Blunstone: Ennismore
*Carter Family: Volume 2 1935-1941 (disc 2)
*Firesign Theatre: I Think We're All Bozos on This Bus
*Grateful Dead: 1969-02-22 Vallejo CA (CDR)
*Grateful Dead: Three from the Vault (1971-02-19 Port Chester, NY) (disc 2)
*J.B.'s: Funky Good Time: The Anthology (disc 1)
*Ozric Tentacles: Jurassic Shift
*Panda Bear: Person Pitch
*Lee Perry: I Am the Upsetter (disc 3)
*Rascals: Freedom Suite (side 4)
*Sonic Youth: Evol
*Sonic Youth: Sister
*Sonic Youth: Daydream Nation
*Sonic Youth: Goo
*This Heat: This Heat
*Various artists: History of Electronic/Electroacoustic Music (CDR compilation) (discs 1, 2, 3)
*Various artists: Eccentric Soul: The 4J Label
*Hank Williams: The Original Singles Collection (disc 1)
*WMWS: One Night Stand
*Yes: 1975-07-23 Providence RI (CDR) (disc 1)
*Frank Zappa/Mothers of Invention: The Roxy Performances (disc 1)

Reading List, Week of 2018-04-15

Reading List 2018-04-16:

*Boyle, James, Jennifer Jenkins, and Keith Aoki. Theft! A History of Music (in progress)
*Christgau, Robert. Christgau's Consumer Guide: Albums of the '90s (in progress)
*Corey, James S. A. Persepolis Rising (in progress)
*Gould, Jonathan. Otis Redding: An Unfinished Life (in progress)
*Jackson, Holbrook. Anatomy of Bibliomania (in progress)

Playlist, Week of 2018-04-08

Great to have the wonderfully remastered CD of God Is More than Love Can Ever Be, Sun Ra's only piano trio album... Under the double sway of Roscoe Mitchell's hypnotic sax and Sonic Youth's hypnotic guitar grooves... Going back and digging Milford Graves' work with Giuseppi Logan... I have a hard time with the sax player's almost inept and feeble attempts at free jazz, but when Logan drops out and Don Pullen takes over, true fire emerges...

Playlist 2018-04-09:

*Anthony Braxton: 4 Compositions (Ulrichsberg) 2005 Phonomanie VIII (disc 2)
*Miles Davis: Aura
*Decoy with Joe McPhee: Spontaneous Combustion (disc 2)
*Joe Henderson featuring Alice Coltrane: The Elements
*Giuseppi Logan Quartet: The Giuseppi Logan Quartet
*Roscoe Mitchell Trio: No Side Effects (disc 2)
*Roscoe Mitchell Quartet: 2009-06-28 Tivoli (CDR)
*Roscoe Mitchell's Cards For Orchestra Project: 2009-08-30 Sant'Anna Arresi, Italy (CDR)
*Roscoe Mitchell Trio: Angel City
*Roscoe Mitchell: 2011-02-17 Roulette, NYC (CDR)
*Roscoe Mitchell: Bells for the South Side (disc 1)
*David Murray/Milford Graves: Real Deal
*Paradoxical Frog: Paradoxical Frog
*Charlie Parker: The Complete Charlie Parker on Verve (disc 5)
*Sun Ra: God Is More than Love Can Ever Be (Remastered 2018 Ed.)
*Henry Threadgill Zooid: Tomorrow Sunny/The Revelry, Spp
*Henry Threadgill Zooid: 2012-03-18 NYC (CDR)
*Eberhard Weber: Yellow Fields
*Chicago: At Carnegie Hall (disc 4)
*Tim Gane & Sean O'Hagan: La Vie d'Artiste (disc 2)
*King Geedorah: Take Me to Your Leader
*Lee Perry: I Am the Upsetter (disc 2)
*Prince: Lovesexy 25 (webcast boot CDR)
*Sly and the Family Stone: Live at the Fillmore East October 4th & 5th, 1968 (disc 4)
*Sonic Youth: Bad Moon Rising
*Sonic Youth: Sonic Nurse
*Sonic Youth: The Eternal
*Sonic Youth: The Destroyed Room
*Various artists: Anthology of Noise and Electronic Music #7: Seventh and Last a-Chronology 1930-2012 (disc 3)
*Yes: 1975-07-06 Memphis (CDR)

Reading List, Week of 2018-04-09

  

A while ago I read Emily Wilson's new translation of The Odyssey, and quite enjoyed it, even though I still prefer the majestic Fagles translation... I followed that up with The Lost Books of the Odyssey, which is truly amazing... Zachary Mason's poetic re-imagining, retelling, and re-inventions of  Odysseus' adventures is absolutely mindbending...

Reading List 2018-04-09:

*Boyle, James, Jennifer Jenkins, and Keith Aoki. Theft! A History of Music (started)
*Corey, James S. A. Persepolis Rising (started)
*James, P. D. Sleep No More: Six Murderous Tales (started/finished)
*Mason, Zachary. The Lost Books of the Odyssey (finished)
*Shakespeare Up Close: Reading Early Modern Texts (ed. Russ McDonald, Nicholas D. Nace, and Travis D. Williams) (finished)
*Christgau, Robert. Christgau's Consumer Guide: Albums of the '90s (in progress)
*Gould, Jonathan. Otis Redding: An Unfinished Life (in progress)
*Jackson, Holbrook. Anatomy of Bibliomania (in progress)

R.I.P. Cecil Taylor

It happens to us all, and now it's happened to Cecil Taylor, whose music has been a major guiding force in my life since the 1970s. The only time I met him was in 1980 at Blues Alley in DC, after I'd just been transformed to a higher plane of being by two hour-long incendiary sets of his quartet with Jimmy Lyons, William Parker, and Rashid Bakr. God knows what he thought of the two rather thin goggle-eyed white guys (me and my brother Jeff), clutching albums for him to sign and basically slack-jawed and inarticulate (unlike him--he was gracious, polite if reserved, and majestic). I hope he at least could tell how much the music he'd just shared had meant to us. His music, that life spirit, has sustained me for it seems like forever, and has inspired my drumming as much if not more than any drummer. The sheer energy and love of life that pervaded his very being channeled through his fingers to anyone open to listen and receive. I'll miss that spirit deeply. Thank you, Mr. Taylor.

Playlist, Week of 2018-04-01

I am on a Roscoe Mitchell roll after having seen him at Big Ears last week... It's been an awful lot of music to absorb, but I think I've been up to the task, heh heh.... I love his orchestration of "Nonaah" as played by the BBC Scottish Symphony Orchestra... why doesn't that kind of thing happen regularly in the States?... oh, yeah, right, forget I asked...

Playlist 2018-04-02:

*Anthony Braxton: Sextet (Parker) 1993 (disc 7) (streaming)
*Anthony Braxton: 4 Compositions (Ulrichsberg) 2005 Phonomanie VIII (disc 4)
*Anthony Braxton/Milford Graves/William Parker: Beyond Quantum
*Decoy with Joe McPhee: Spontaneous Combustion (disc 1)
*Kate Gentile: Mannequins
*Vijay Iyer Sextet: Far from Over
*Mephista: Entomological Reflections
*Roscoe Mitchell Quartet: Live at “A Space” 1975
*Roscoe Mitchell and the Sound Ensemble: Snurdy McGurdy and Her Dancin’ Shoes
*Roscoe Mitchell: Duets with Tyshawn Sorey and Special Guest Hugh Ragin
*Roscoe Mitchell/Fred Frith/George Lewis/BBC Scottish Symphony Orchestra: 2014-02-22 Glasgow (CDR)
*Roscoe Mitchell Trio: No Side Effects (disc 1)
*Roscoe Mitchell Trio: Angel City
*Roscoe Mitchell Discussions Orchestra: Discussions
*New Ting Ting Loft: 2018-03-19 "Cornering the Market" (wav)
*New Ting Ting Loft: 2018-03-26 "Bowser Intake Ratio" (wav)
*Evan Parker: Monoceros
*Ernesto Rodrigues/Guilherme Rodrigues/Daniel Barbiero: {the} nature {of things} likes to hide
*Henry Threadgill Zooid: 2010-06-24 NYC (CDR) (disc 2)
*Henry Threadgill Zooid: 2011-11-25 Poznan, Poland (CDR)
*James Blood Ulmer with The Thing: Baby Talk
*Ben Webster with Strings: Music for Loving (disc 1)
*John Barry: Thunderball (Definitive Soundtrack Collection)
*Clash: Sandinista! (disc 1)
*Firesign Theatre: Dear Friends
*Tim Gane & Sean O'Hagan: La Vie d'Artiste (disc 1)
*Sonic Youth: Murray Street
*Various artists: Anthology of Noise and Electronic Music #7: Seventh and Last a-Chronology 1930-2012 (disc 2)
*Various artists: Eccentric Soul: The Bandit Label
*Yardbirds: Live Yardbirds! Featuring Jimmy Page

Reading List, Week of 2018-04-01

Reading List 2018-04-02:

*Sanderson, Brandon. Oathbringer (finished)
*Christgau, Robert. Christgau's Consumer Guide: Albums of the '90s (in progress)
*Gould, Jonathan. Otis Redding: An Unfinished Life (in progress)
*Jackson, Holbrook. Anatomy of Bibliomania (in progress)
*Mason, Zachary. The Lost Books of the Odyssey (in progress)
*Shakespeare Up Close: Reading Early Modern Texts (ed. Russ McDonald, Nicholas D. Nace, and Travis D. Williams) (in progress)