Playlist, Week of 2021-01-24

Excellent new release from Daniel Barbiero and Cristiano Bocci... Now/Here is a wonderful follow-up to their earlier collaboration Wooden Mirrors... it starts out with a sense of cinematic grandeur and Nordic vistas, and continues on with an aural sweep of space and dreaminess that's absolutely beautiful and entrancing... also beautifully recorded... check it out!... On the Ellington front, I have to say the Capitol sides have been unfairly maligned... there's some great stuff here, yes, even "Bunny Hop Mambo"... 

Playlist 2021-01-25:

*Art Ensemble of Chicago: People in Sorrow (sides 1, 2)
*Daniel Barbiero/Cristiano Bocci: Now/Here
*Beatles: Rubber Soul (2009 stereo remaster) (sides 1, 2)
*Circle: 1971-03-03 Hamburg (CDR) "Comp. 6I"
*John Coltrane: Live in Japan “Afro Blue”
*Sylvie Courvoisier Trio: D'Agala
*Miles Davis: Chronicle: The Complete Prestige Recordings 1951-1956 (discs 6, 7)
*Miles Davis/Gil Evans: The Complete Columbia Studio Recordings (disc 2)
*Miles Davis: In Person Friday and Saturday Nights at the Blackhawk, Complete (disc 4)
*Duke Ellington: The Complete Duke Ellington, Vol. 4: 1932 (side 3)
*Duke Ellington: Vintage Duke (side 1)
*Duke Ellington and His Orchestra: The Treasury Shows, Vol. 8 (disc 2)
*Duke Ellington and His Orchestra: The Duke Ellington Carnegie Hall Concerts, December, 1947 (disc 2)
*Duke Ellington: Ellington Uptown
*Duke Ellington: The Complete Capitol Recordings of Duke Ellington (discs 4, 5)
*Duke Ellington: Duke 56/62 Vol. 1 (sides 3, 4)
*Duke Ellington and His Orchestra: The Ellington Suites
*Duke Ellington and His Orchestra: Featuring Paul Gonsalves
*Duke Ellington and His Orchestra: Concert In The Virgin Islands
*Duke Ellington and His Orchestra: Latin American Suite
*Duke Ellington: The Afro-Eurasian Eclipse
*Art Farmer: Portrait of Art
*Jimmy Giuffre 3: 1961 (disc 2)
*Herbie Hancock: The Prisoner (sides 1, 2)
*Jimi Hendrix Experience: Live in Maui (disc 2)
*Vijay Iyer Sextet: Far from Over
*Keith Jarrett: Expectations (side 1)
*Mar-Keys & Booker T. & the MGs: Back to Back
*Charles Mingus: Changes Two (side 2)
*Charles Mingus: Charles Mingus @ Bremen 1964 & 1975 (disc 3)
*Roscoe Mitchell with Ostravská Banda: Distant Radio Transmission (side 1)
*Roscoe Mitchell: Splatter
*Thelonious Monk: Underground
*Palberta: Palberta5000
*Tyshawn Sorey: Alloy "Movement"
*Tyshawn Sorey: The Inner Spectrum of Variables "Movement III"
*Sun Ra and His Arkestra: Jazz in Silhouette
*Sun Ra & His Arkestra: The Cymbals​/​Symbols Sessions (New York, 1973) (side 4)
*Sun Ra: The Other Side of the Sun (side 1)
*Cecil Taylor and Tony Oxley: Birdland, Neuburg 2011
*Third Coast Ensemble: Wrecks
*Lennie Tristano: The New Tristano
*Various artists: 5000 Volts of Stax

Reading List, Week of 2021-01-24

Reading List, Week of 2021-01-25:

*Rankin, Ian. The Complaints (started)
*Nesbø, Jo. Cockroaches (transl. Don Bartlett) (started/finished)
*King, Stephen. If It Bleeds (finished)
*Shakespeare, William. A Midsummer Night's Dream (Folio) (reread/finished)
*Burton, Robert. The Anatomy of Melancholy (in progress)
*Parker, William. Conversations (in progress)

Playlist, Week of 2021-01-17

A new year, and the listening's good... Roscoe Mitchell's Splatter is a companion piece to Distant Radio Transmission, with two works featuring the Orchestra del Teatro Comunale di Bolagno, one being an alternate version of the composition "Distant Radio Transmission" featuring Thomas Buckner on mindblowing vocals... but the core of Splatter is devoted to "Breath and Pipes," a 45-minute improvisational duet from Mitchell and Francesco Filidei on this huge church organ... really moving, deeply beautiful simpatico playing...  In the universe of Miles Davis, standouts for me this week included Wynton Kelly's solo on "Pfrancing"... what the hell... Miles Ahead has always been my favorite of the Gil Evans collaborations... sublime orchestrations and gorgeous soloing... For whatever reason, the late Duke Ellington suites are tapping directly into where my brain is right now... I can't get enough of these... I do listen to other things, but it'd be super-easy to crank through nothing but 1960s Duke for the next few weeks... and not just because of Paul Gonsalves, who is consistently brilliant... and also in spite of Cat Anderson, who can be quite irritating (I have a limit on how many super-high-register screechy high trumpet notes I can tolerate, and it's way lower, evidently, than Duke's was)... 

Playlist 2021-01-18:

*Beatles: With the Beatles (2009 stereo remaster) (sides 1, 2)
*Beatles: Beatles for Sale (2009 stereo remaster) (sides 1, 2)
*Beatles: Rubber Soul (2009 stereo remaster) (side 1)
*Booker T. & the MGs: Soul Selections (CDR compilation)
*Anthony Braxton: Echo Echo Mirror House
*Daniel Carter/Matthew Shipp/William Parker/Gerald Cleaver: Welcome Adventure! Vol. 1
*Miles Davis: Chronicle: The Complete Prestige Recordings 1951-1956 (discs 4, 5)
*Miles Davis: Ascenseur pour l'Echafaud
*Miles Davis: Someday My Prince Will Come (side 1)
*Miles Davis/Gil Evans: The Complete Columbia Studio Recordings (disc 1)
*Miles Davis: The Complete On The Corner Sessions (disc 1) "On the Corner (Unedited Master)"
*Duke Ellington: The Complete Duke Ellington, Vol. 4: 1932 (side 2)
*Duke Ellington: 1940 "Fargo Encores" (side 2)
*Duke Ellington and His Orchestra: The Duke Ellington Carnegie Hall Concerts, December, 1947 (disc 1)
*Duke Ellington: The Complete Capitol Recordings of Duke Ellington (disc 3)
*Duke Ellington: Ellington Uptown
*Duke Ellington: Soul Call
*Duke Ellington: New Orleans Suite
*Duke Ellington and His Orchestra: Latin American Suite
*Duke Ellington: Togo Brava Suite
*Explorers Club: Together
*Grateful Dead: 1969-02-29 Fillmore West (CDR) "That's It for the Other One"
*Mary Halvorson's Code Girl: Artlessly Falling
*Herbie Hancock: The Prisoner (sides 1, 2)
*Jimi Hendrix Experience: Live in Maui (disc 1)
*Junk Magic: Compass Confusion
*Ingrid Laubrock: Dreamt Twice, Twice Dreamt (disc 1)
*Led Zeppelin: Led Zeppelin (2014 remaster) (disc 1)
*Roscoe Mitchell: Splatter
*Mario Pavone: Arc Trio
*Sun Ra & His Solar-Myth Arkestra: The Solar-Myth Approach Vols. 1 and 2 (disc 2)
*Sun Ra & His Arkestra: The Cymbals​/​Symbols Sessions (New York, 1973) (side 3)
*Sun Ra: The Other Side of the Sun
*Sun Ra: A Fireside Chat with Lucifer (side 1)
*Sun Ra Arkestra: Swirling
*Cecil Taylor/The Ensemble: The Light of Corona "One"
*Lennie Tristano: Lennie Tristano
*Various artists: 1000 Volts of Stax
*Various artists: 2000 Volts of Stax
*Various artists: 3000 Volts of Stax

Reading List, Week of 2021-01-17

Reading List, Week of 2021-01-18:

*Parker, William. Conversations (started)
*Shakespeare, William. A Midsummer Night's Dream (Folio) (reread/started)
*Smith, Ali. Artful (started/finished)
*Thomson, David. Murder and the Movies (finished)
*Burton, Robert. The Anatomy of Melancholy (in progress)
*King, Stephen. If It Bleeds (in progress)

Playlist, Week of 2021-01-10

A word about the new studio recording from the Sun Ra Arkestra, Swirling: it's excellent... Marshall Allen's excellent arrangements serve these compositions proud... these are fresh and invigorating takes, even on old chestnuts like "Rocket No. 9"... Tara Middleton's vocals are outstanding, with just the right amount of space-iness... Allen's solos are great, but the true star of the album is pianist Farid Barron... truly building on the spirit of Ra, he is constantly adding spice and color to every moment of this album, with an ongoing stream of imaginative statements throughout all the ensemble passages and each solo... I was unfamiliar with him since I don't do Marsalis, and I am not sure if he was with the Arkestra when they played at the Richmond Folk Festival the first night (Terry Adams played keyboards the second night)... his playing here is utterly superb and, at times, staggering... overall, a masterful album and absolutely the best from Marshall Allen's tenure... Beyond that, I am back to digging into Duke and Miles...

Playlist 2021-01-11:

*AMM: The Crypt: 12th June 1968, the Complete Session (disc 1)
*Art Ensemble of Chicago: We Are on the Edge: A 50th Anniversary Celebration (disc 1)
*Beatles: Hard Day's Night (2009 stereo remaster) (sides 1, 2)
*Beatles: Revolver (2009 stereo remaster) (sides 1, 2)
*Anthony Braxton: Solo (Skopje) 1995
*Rodger Coleman and Sam Byrd: 2015-05-14 Nashville (wav) track 3
*Miles Davis: Chronicle: The Complete Prestige Recordings 1951-1956 (disc 1)
*Miles Davis: Rare Miles (CDR compilation) (discs 3, 4)
*Miles Davis: 'Round about Midnight
*Duke Ellington and His Orchestra: Blue Light (side 2)
*Duke Ellington: The Complete Capitol Recordings of Duke Ellington (disc 2)
*Duke Ellington: Duke Ellington Presents…
*Duke Ellington and His Orchestra: Festival Session
*Duke Ellington: The Great London Concerts
*Duke Ellington/Billy Strayhorn: Great Times!
*Duke Ellington and His Orchestra: Concert in the Virgin Islands
*Duke Ellington and His Orchestra: Berlin '65/Paris '67
*Jimi Hendrix Experience: Live in Maui (discs 1, 2)
*Junk Magic: Compass Confusion
*Ingrid Laubrock: Dreamt Twice, Twice Dreamt (disc 2)
*Roscoe Mitchell: Splatter
*Thelonious Monk: Thelonious Monk Plays Duke Ellington
*Pere Ubu: Dub Housing
*Matthew Shipp: The Piano Equation
*Sun Ra & His Solar-Myth Arkestra: The Solar-Myth Approach Vols. 1 and 2 (disc 1)
*Sun Ra & His Arkestra: The Cymbals​/​Symbols Sessions (New York, 1973) (side 1)
*Sun Ra: On Jupiter (side 2)
*Sun Ra: A Fireside Chat with Lucifer (side 2)
*Sun Ra Arkestra: Swirling

Reading List, Week of 2021-01-10

Reading List, Week of 2021-01-11:

*King, Stephen. If It Bleeds (started)
*Thomson, David. Murder and the Movies (started)
*Rankin, Ian. A Song for the Dark Times (started/finished)
*Shakespeare, William. A Midsummer Night's Dream (Arden 2nd series, ed. Harold F. Brooks) (reread/finished)
*Nesbø, Jo. The Bat (transl. Don Bartlett) (finished)
*Burton, Robert. The Anatomy of Melancholy (in progress)

Playlist, Week of 2021-01-03

More holiday listening....

Playlist 2021-01-04:

*B-52’s: Wild Planet
*B-52’s: Cosmic Thing
*Beach Boys: Pet Sounds (mono 50th anniversary) (sides 1, 2)
*Beatles: With the Beatles (2009 stereo remaster) (sides 1, 2)
*Beatles: Beatles for Sale (2009 stereo remaster) (sides 1, 2)
*Beatles: Help! (2009 stereo remaster) (sides 1, 2)
*Beatles: Sgt. Peppers Lonely Heart Club Band (Anniversary Ed.) (sides 1, 2)
*Chuck Berry: The Great Twenty-Eight
*Blood Incantation: Hidden History of the Human Race
*Brahms: The Trios For Piano, Violin & Cello (Istomin/Stern/Rose Trio) (sides 1, 2, 3)
*Coheed and Cambria: Good Apollo I'm Burning Star IV | Volume One: From Fear Through the Eyes of Madness (sides 1, 2, 3, 4)
*Elvis Costello and the Attractions: Armed Forces
*Elvis Costello & the Attractions: Get Happy
*Duke Ellington: Afro Bossa
*Fall of Troy: Fall of Troy
*Fall of Troy: OK
*Herbie Hancock: Maiden Voyage
*Kinks: Arthur, or, The Decline and Fall of the British Empire
*Led Zeppelin: 4
*Led Zeppelin: Houses of the Holy
*Led Zeppelin: Physical Graffiti (disc 2)
*Led Zeppelin: Presence
*Rutles: The Rutles
*XTC: English Settlement
*Zillatron: Lord of the Harvest

Reading List, Week of 2021-01-03

Holiday comics reading....

Reading List 2021-01-04:

*Nesbø, Jo. The Bat (started)
*Lemire, Jeff et al. Black Hammer #1-13 (reread/started/finished)
*Lemire, Jeff et al. Sherlock Frankenstein and the Legion of Evil #1-4 (started/finished)
*Lemire, Jeff et al. Black Hammer: Age of Doom #1-12 (started/finished)
*Lemire, Jeff et al. Doctor Star and the Kingdom of Lost Tomorrows #1-4 (started/finished)
*Lemire, Jeff et al. Black Hammer/Justice League: Hammer of Justice #1-5 (started/finished)
*Lemire, Jeff et al. Black Hammer '45 #1-4 (started/finished)
*Lemire, Jeff et al. The Quantum Age #1-6 (started/finished)
*Lemire, Jeff et al. Gideon Falls #1-27 (started/finished)
*Burton, Robert. The Anatomy of Melancholy (in progress)
*Shakespeare, William. A Midsummer Night's Dream (Arden 2nd series, ed. Harold F. Brooks) (reread/in progress)