Playlist, Week of 2021-12-19

Busy times....

Playlist 2021-12-20:

*Joshua Abrams Quartet: Unknown Known

*Jeff Albert's Instigation Quartet: The Tree on the Mound

*Beatles: The Christmas Records (record 2)

*Beatles: Help! (2009 stereo remaster) (side 1)

*Beatles: Rubber Soul (2009 stereo remaster) (sides 1, 2)

*Beatles Remixers Group: Tuned to a Natural E Vol. 8 (disc 2)

*Booker T. & the MGs: Time Is Tight (selections)

*Brand X: Livestock (side 1)

*Anthony Braxton Large Ensemble: 2008-12-03 Wesleyan (CDR) "Comp. 173/102"

*Anthony Braxton: Quartet (Standards) 2020 (disc 13 streaming)

*Rodger Coleman and Sam Byrd: 2019-11-25 Nashville (rough mix wav)

*Miles Davis: The Prestige 10-Inch LP Collection, Vol. 2 (LP 1, side 2)

*Declared Enemy: Salute to 100001 Stars: A Tribute to Jean Genet

*Chico Freeman Quintet: 1977-02-11 NYC (CDR) (disc 2)

*Grateful Dead: Dick's Picks 4 (1970-02-13 Fillmore East) "Dark Star"

*Joe Henderson: The Blue Note Years (disc 1)

*Bobby Hutcherson: Oblique

*Jefferson Pilot: Long Distance

*Layers of Memory: (More) Layers of Memory

*Nicole Mitchell Black Earth Ensemble/Ensemble Laborintus: Moments Of Fatherhood

*MMM Quartet: Oakland/Lisboa

*Andrew Oliver/David Horniblow: The Complete Morton Project

*Lee 'Scratch' Perry & the Upsetters: Super Ape

*Robert Pollard: Superman Was a Rocker (sides 1, 2)

*Pretty Things: S.F. Sorrow (sides 1, 2)

*Prince: Welcome 2 America

*Thelonious Monk: The Complete Blue Note Recordings (disc 2)

*Matthew Shipp: Magnetism(s) (discs 1, 2)

*Lewis Taylor: Stoned- Part I

*Lewis Taylor: Lewis II

*Lewis Taylor: The Lost Album

*XTC: Apple Venus Volume 1 (sides 1, 2)

*John Zorn: Chaos Magick

 

Reading List, Week of 2021-12-19

 

I read Ali Smith at night in bed and go to sleep with a smile on my face....

Reading List 2021-12-20:

*Atkinson, Kate. Behind the Scenes at the Museum (started)
*Shakespeare, William. The Two Gentlemen of Verona (Arden 2nd series, ed. Clifford Leech) (reread/started)
*Smith, Ali. Public Library and Other Stories (finished)
*Booth, Stephen. Shakespeare's Sonnets (ed. with analytic commentary by Booth) (in progress)
*Pynchon, Thomas. Against the Day (reread/in progress)
*Shakespeare, William. Sonnets (1609 Quarto) (reread/in progress)
*Shakespeare, William. Sonnets (ed. Helen Vendler) (reread/in progress)

Playlist, Week of 2021-12-12

 

Can't talk, too busy listening.....

Playlist 2021-12-13:

*Daevid Allen Trio: Live 1963

*Chuck Berry: Cream of the Crop: Neglected Tracks 1960-70 (CDR compilation)

*black midi: Cavalcade

*Blue Buddha: Blue Buddha

*Anthony Braxton: Quartet (Standards) 2020 (disc 12 streaming)

*John Carter Octet: Dauwhe

*John Carter: Castles of Ghana

*John Carter: Fields

*John Carter: Shadows on a Wall

*Chicago: Chicago at Carnegie Hall Complete (selections CDR) (disc 3)

*Nels Cline Singers: Share the Wealth

*Rodger Coleman and Sam Byrd: 2019-08 Nashville (rough mix wav) (selections)

*John Coltrane: A Love Supreme: Live in Seattle

*Curlew: North America

*Hamid Drake & Bindu: Bindu

*Michel Edelin's Flute Fever Orchestra: Kalamania (disc 1)

*Chico Freeman Quintet: 1977-02-11 NYC (CDR) (disc 1)

*Kim Gordon/DJ Olive/Ikue Mori: Myūjikaru Pāsupekutibu

*Lightnin' Hopkins: Dirty House Blues (disc 1)

*Bobby Hutcherson: Dialogue

*Bobby Hutcherson: Oblique

*Henry Kaiser: Requia and Other Improvisations for Guitar Solo

*King Crimson: Starless (disc 14)

*John Medeski: Crawlspace

*Roscoe Mitchell/David Wessel: Contact

*Lawrence D. “Butch” Morris: Testament: A Conduction Collection "Conduction 25/26 Arbank"

*Moving Gelatine Plates: The World of Genius Hans

*Muffins: Secret Signals 3

*Andrew Oliver/David Horniblow: The Complete Morton Project

*Jeff Parker/Rob Mazurek: Some Jellyfish Live Forever

*Evan Parker/Matthew Shipp: Leonine Aspects

*Didier Petit: D'Accord

*Prince: Welcome 2 America

*Sam Rivers/Alexander von Schlippenbach: Tangens

*Rolling Stones: Their Satanic Majesties 'Instrumental' Request (boot CDR)

*Lewis Taylor: Stoned- Part II

*Tiger Trio: Map of Liberation

*Henry Threadgill Zooid: This Brings Us To, Volume II

*New Tony Williams Lifetime: Believe It

*Stevie Wonder - Roddie Joy: Selections (CDR compilation)

*Wyxz: Odyx

Reading List, Week of 2021-12-12

Reading List 2021-12-13:

*Smith, Ali. Public Library and Other Stories (started)
*Shakespeare, William. Comedy of Errors (Arden 2nd series, ed. R.A. Foakes) (reread/started/finished)
*Ellroy, James. Because the Night (reread/finished)
*Segar, E. C. Complete E.C. Segar Popeye, Vol. 11: Dailies 1937-1938 (finished)
*Shakespeare, William. Pericles (Arden 2nd series, ed. E.D. Hoeniger) (reread/finished)
*Booth, Stephen. Shakespeare's Sonnets (ed. with analytic commentary by Booth) (in progress)
*Pynchon, Thomas. Against the Day (reread/in progress)
*Shakespeare, William. Sonnets (1609 Quarto) (reread/in progress)
*Shakespeare, William. Sonnets (ed. Helen Vendler) (reread/in progress)

 

Playlist, Week of 2021-12-05

Yeah, this new Coltrane live in Seattle is just incredible... I especially love the Trane solo at the end of "Resolution," but Carlos Ward (giving us an idea of how Eric Dolphy might have approached this piece) and Pharoah Sanders sound great, too... hell, the whole band cooks, and McCoy Tyner and Elvin Jones are up front and crucial... nourishing music for love-starved times... 

Playlist 2021-12-06:

*Lotte Anker/Fred Frith: Edge of the Light
*Beach Boys: 1967: Sunshine Tomorrow (disc 2)
*Paul Chambers: Mosaic Select (discs 2, 3)
*Chicago: Chicago VI
*John Coltrane: A Love Supreme (Deluxe Ed.) (disc 2)
*John Coltrane: A Love Supreme: Live in Seattle
*Miles Davis: Complete Birth of the Cool (remastered)
*Deerhoof: Actually, You Can
*Gentle Giant: 1976-09-23 Dusseldorf (CDR)
*Peter Kowald: Off the Road
*Maghostut Trio: Live at Last
*Sabir Mateen: Urdla XXX
*Muffins: Bandwidth
*New Ting Ting Loft: 2015-04-13 Musicircus, University of Richmond (CDR)
*Andrew Oliver/David Horniblow: The Complete Morton Project
*Evan Parker/Matthew Shipp: Rex, Wrecks, & XXX (disc 1)
*Lee "Scratch" Perry, the Upsetters, & Friends: The Upsetter Compact Set (disc 2)
*Sun Ra and His Band from Outer Space: Space Aura
*Sun Ra Arkestra/Cauleen Smith: Black Utopia: Sun Ra Rehearsals & Lectures
*Tarbaby: Fanon
*Thumbscrew: Never Is Enough
*Various artists: Rough Guide to Reggae
*Wilde Flowers: The Wilde Flowers (disc 2)
*John Zorn: Les Maudits
*John Zorn: Azoth

Reading List, Week of 2021-12-05

Reading List 2021-12-06:

*Ellroy, James. Because the Night (reread/started)
*Segar, E. C. Complete E.C. Segar Popeye, Vol. 11: Dailies 1937-1938 (started)
*Ellroy, James. Blood on the Moon (reread/started/finished)
*The Book Lover. Compiled by Ali Smith (finished)
*Brennan, Matt. Kick It: A Social History of the Drum Kit (finished)
*Booth, Stephen. Shakespeare's Sonnets (ed. with analytic commentary by Booth) (in progress)
*Pynchon, Thomas. Against the Day (reread/in progress)
*Shakespeare, William. Pericles (Arden 2nd series, ed. E.D. Hoeniger) (reread/in progress)
*Shakespeare, William. Sonnets (1609 Quarto) (reread/in progress)
*Shakespeare, William. Sonnets (ed. Helen Vendler) (reread/in progress)

Playlist, Week of 2021-11-28

Starting to get excited about the upcoming Big Ears festival... here's hoping it really happens... many favorites are slotted to play, including playlist stalwarts Simulacrum, Kris Davis, and Craig Taborn...

Playlist 2021-11-29:

*Beach Boys: 1967: Sunshine Tomorrow (disc 1)

*Beach Boys: Love You

*Beethoven: Piano Trio Op. 97 / Dvořák: Piano Trio Op. 90 (Pauk/Kirschbaum/Frankl)

*Anthony Braxton: Octet (New York) 1995

*Anthony Braxton/Miya Masaoka: Duo (DCWM) 2013 (disc 2)

*Anthony Braxton: Quartet (Standards) 2020 (disc 11 streaming)

*John Coltrane: Live in Seattle (disc 2)

*John Coltrane: 1965-09 Seattle (CDR) (unreleased tracks)

*Scotty Hard: Scotty Hard's Radical Reconstructive Surgery

*Ikue Mori/Brian Marsella/Sae Hashimoto: Archipelago X

*Joe Morris/ Tomeka Reid: Combinations

*Muffins: Loveletter #2: The Ra Sessions

*Quiet Sun: Mainstream

*Rova Saxophone Quartet/Kyle Bruckmann/Henry Kaiser: Steve Lacy's Saxophone Special Revisited

*Matthew Shipp String Trio: Symbolic Reality

*Steve Swell's Fire Into Music: Swimming in a Galaxy of Goodwill and Sorrow

*Henry Threadgill Sextet: When Was That?

*Henry Threadgill Sextet: Just the Facts and Pass the Bucket

*Tiger Trio: Unleashed

*Watershed: Watershed

*John Zorn/Simulacrum: Baphomet

 

Reading List, Week of 2021-11-28

Reading List 2021-11-29:

*Pynchon, Thomas. Against the Day (reread/started)
*Shakespeare, William. Pericles (Arden 2nd series, ed. E.D. Hoeniger) (reread/started)
*Austen, Jane and Seth Grahame-Smith. Pride and Prejudice and Zombies (started/finished)
*Delisle, Guy. Factory Summers (transl. Helge Dascher and Rob Aspinall) (started/finished)
*Gaiman, Neil and Fábio Moon, Gabriel Bá. How to Talk to Girls at Parties (started/finished)
*Jusay, Jeremy. The Strange Ones (started/finished)
*Stephenson, Eric, et al. They're Not Like Us, Vol. 2: Us Against You (started/finished)
*Stephenson, Eric, et al. They're Not Like Us, Vol. 1: Black Holes for the Young (started/finished)
*Ellroy, James. Clandestine (reread/finished)
*The Book Lover. Compiled by Ali Smith (in progress)
*Booth, Stephen. Shakespeare's Sonnets (ed. with analytic commentary by Booth) (in progress)
*Brennan, Matt. Kick It: A Social History of the Drum Kit (in progress)
*Shakespeare, William. Sonnets (1609 Quarto) (reread/in progress)
*Shakespeare, William. Sonnets (ed. Helen Vendler) (reread/in progress)

Playlist, Week of 2021-11-21

The remastered Pere Ubu discs on Fire sound fantastic, best they've sounded on digital (still prefer the original vinyl)...

Playlist 2021-11-22:

*Beatles: Please Please Me (2009 stereo remaster) (sides 1, 2)
*Beatles Remixers Group: Tuned to a Natural E Vol. 7
*Beatles Remixers Group: Tuned to a Natural E Vol. 8 (disc 1)
*Paul Chambers: Chambers' Music: A Jazz Delegation from the East
*Paul Chambers: Mosaic Select (disc 1)
*Nels Cline/Henry Kaiser/Jim Thomas/Weasel Walter/Allen Whitman: Jazz Free: A Connective Improvisation
*Milford Graves/John Zorn: 50²
*Jazzmen: Detroit
*Henry Kaiser/Bob Bralove: Ultraviolet Licorice
*Henry Kaiser/Damon Smith/Weasel Walter: Plane Crash 2
*Brian Marsella: Gatos Do Sul
*Roscoe Mitchell: Duets with Anthony Braxton
*New Ting Ting Loft: 2015-10-24 “Swift Creation” Cheap Fest VI, Richmond VA (wav)
*New Ting Ting Loft: 2016-02-05 “Up and Atom” RVA Noise Showcase, WRIR Party, Richmond VA (wav)
*New Ting Ting Loft: 2016-09-28 "Ankle, Rain, Pack" Strange Matter, RVA (wav)
*Pere Ubu: The Modern Dance
*Richard Pinhas: Tranzition
*Craig Taborn/Vadim Neselovskyi: Da'at
*Cecil Taylor: Indent "Indent (Third Layer)"
*Wilde Flowers: The Wilde Flowers (disc 1)

 

Reading List, Week of 2021-11-21

Reading List 2021-11-22:

*The Book Lover. Compiled by Ali Smith (started)
*Ellroy, James. Clandestine (reread/finished)
*Remender, Rick, et al. Low, Vol. 1: The Delirium of Hope (started/finished)
*Segar, E. C. Complete E.C. Segar Popeye, Vol. 10: Dailies 1935-1937 (started/finished)
*Badman, Keith. The Beach Boys: The Definitive Diary of America's Greatest Band: On Stage and In the Studio (reread/finished)
*Harrison, John M. Climbers (finished)
*Booth, Stephen. Shakespeare's Sonnets (ed. with analytic commentary by Booth) (in progress)
*Brennan, Matt. Kick It: A Social History of the Drum Kit (in progress)
*Shakespeare, William. Sonnets (1609 Quarto) (reread/in progress)
*Shakespeare, William. Sonnets (ed. Helen Vendler) (reread/in progress)

Playlist, Week of 2021-11-14

The music is good......

Playlist 2021-11-15:

*Beach Boys: 1970-02-28 Seattle (CDR)

*Beach Boys: Carl and the Passions….So Tough

*Beach Boys: 1972-11-23 Carnegie Hall NYC (CDR)

*Beach Boys: Holland

*Beatles: Beatles for Sale (2009 stereo remaster) (sides 1, 2)

*Rob Brown/Matthew Shipp: Then Now

*Rob Brown Quartet: From Here to Hear

*Chicago: Chicago at Carnegie Hall Complete (selections CDR) (disc 2)

*Chicago: Chicago V

*Ornette Coleman: Dancing in Your Head "Theme from a Symphony (Variation One)"

*John Coltrane: Live in Seattle (disc 1)

*John Coltrane: A Love Supreme: Live in Seattle

*Miles Davis: The Complete Studio Recordings of the Miles Davis Quintet 1965–1968 (disc 4) "Circle in the Round"

*Deerhoof: Actually, You Can

*Hamid Drake/Sylvain Kassap: Heads or Tails (disc 1)

*Paul Dunmall/Matthew Shipp/Joe Morris/Gerald Cleaver: The Bright Awakening

*Michel Edelin Quartet: Resurgence

*Duke Ellington and His Orchestra: The Duke Ellington Carnegie Hall Concerts, January, 1943 "Black," "Brown"

*Duke Ellington: Live in Mexico "The Mexican Suite"

*Tim Hodgkinson: Under the Void

*Yusef Lateef: Roots Run Deep

*Dave Liebman/Steve Dalachinsky: The Fallout of Dreams

*Mat Maneri/Matthew Shipp: Conference of the Mat/ts

*Hank Mobley: The Complete Blue Note Hank Mobley Fifties Sessions (discs 5, 6)

*Colin Moulding: The Hardest Battle

*Evan Parker Quartet: All Knavery and Collusion

*Pere Ubu: The Modern Dance (sides 1, 2)

*Pere Ubu: Dub Housing (sides 1, 2)

*Lee "Scratch" Perry, the Upsetters, & Friends: The Upsetter Compact Set (disc 1)

*Cash Rivers and the Sinners: Blue Balls Lincoln

*Matthew Shipp Trio/Nicole Mitchell: All Things Are

*Matthew Shipp/Nate Wooley: What If?

*Claudia Solal/Benoît Delbecq: Hopetown

*Sparks: Hello Young Lovers

*Sparks/Franz Ferdinand: FFS

*Steve Swell Quintet Soul Travelers: Astonishments

*Turbine!: Entropy/Enthalpy (disc 1)

*Chick Webb & Ella Fitzgerald: The Complete Chick Webb & Ella Fitzgerald Decca Sessions (1934-1941) (disc 7)

*John Zorn/Simulacrum: Simulacrum

Reading List, Week of 2021-11-14

Reading List 2021-11-15:

*Harrison, John M. Climbers (started)
*Atkinson, Kate. When Will There Be Good News? (started/finished)
*Atkinson, Kate. Started Early, Took My Dog (started/finished)
*Atkinson, Kate. Big Sky (started/finished)
*Badman, Keith. The Beach Boys: The Definitive Diary of America's Greatest Band: On Stage and In the Studio (reread/in progress)
*Booth, Stephen. Shakespeare's Sonnets (ed. with analytic commentary by Booth) (in progress)
*Brennan, Matt. Kick It: A Social History of the Drum Kit (in progress)
*Shakespeare, William. Sonnets (1609 Quarto) (reread/in progress)
*Shakespeare, William. Sonnets (ed. Helen Vendler) (reread/in progress)

 

Playlist, Week of 2021-11-07

Glad they kept the released version of "Passing By" instrumental, but it sure is nice to have the version with added vocals as well....

Playlist 2021-11-08:

*Beach Boys: Wake the World: The Friends Sessions
*Beach Boys: Feel Flows: The Sunflower & Surf's Up Sessions 1969-1971 (disc 3)
*black midi: Cavalcade
*Borderlands Trio: Wandersphere (discs 1, 2)
*Paul Chambers: Go…
*Paul Chambers: 1st Bassman
*Chicago: Chicago at Carnegie Hall Complete (selections CDR) (disc 1)
*Gerald Cleaver/Larry Ochs: Songs of the Wild Cave
*John Coltrane: A Love Supreme: Live in Seattle
*Jacques Coursil with Alan Silva: FreeJazzArt
*Deerhoof: Actually, You Can
*Robert Dick/Tiffany Chang: Raise the River
*East-West Collective: Humeurs
*Michel Edelin's Flute Fever Orchestra: Kalamania (disc 2)
*Farmers By Nature: Farmers By Nature
*Dexter Gordon: Our Man in Paris
*Jefferson Pilot: Long Distance
*Hank Mobley: The Complete Blue Note Hank Mobley Fifties Sessions (discs 3, 4)
*Jemeel Moondoc Quartet: The Astral Revelations: Live at Bimhuis
*Joe Morris/Mary Halvorson: Traversing Orbits
*Olivia Tremor Control: Presents: Singles and Beyond
*Lee Perry: Scratch Attack!
*Sam Rivers and the Rivbea Orchestra: Trilogy (disc 3)
*Matthew Shipp/John Butcher/Thomas Lehn: The Clawed Stone
*Sparks: Whomp That Sucker
*Spring: Spring
*Cecil Taylor Unit: 1966-10-16 Stuttgart (CDR) (disc 1)
*Tiger Trio: Map of Liberation
*Weasel Walter/Henry Kaiser/Damon Smith: Plane Crash
*Chick Webb & Ella Fitzgerald: The Complete Chick Webb & Ella Fitzgerald Decca Sessions (1934-1941) (discs 5, 6)
*John Zorn/Simulacrum: The Painted Bird
*John Zorn/Simulacrum: 49 Acts of Unspeakable Depravity in the Abominable Life and Times of Gilles de Rais
*John Zorn/Insurrection: Insurrection
*John Zorn/Insurrection: Salem 1692

Reading List, Week of 2021-11-07

Reading List 2021-11-08:

*Atkinson, Kate. When Will There Be Good News? (started)
*Smith, Ali. Girl Meets Boy (started/finished)
*Macdonald, Ross. The Doomsters (reread/finished)
*Badman, Keith. The Beach Boys: The Definitive Diary of America's Greatest Band: On Stage and In the Studio (reread/in progress)
*Booth, Stephen. Shakespeare's Sonnets (ed. with analytic commentary by Booth) (in progress)
*Brennan, Matt. Kick It: A Social History of the Drum Kit (in progress)
*Shakespeare, William. Sonnets (1609 Quarto) (reread/in progress)
*Shakespeare, William. Sonnets (ed. Helen Vendler) (reread/in progress)

Playlist, Week of 2021-10-31

Packy....

Playlist 2021-11-01:

*Charles "Packy" Axton: Late Late Party 1965-67 (sides 1, 2)

*Beach Boys: The Smile Sessions (sides 2, 3)

*Anthony Braxton/Miya Masaoka: Duo (DCWM) 2013 (disc 1)

*Anthony Braxton: Quartet (Standards) 2020 (discs 9, 10 streaming)

*John Coltrane: 1965-04-02 Half Note, NYC (CDR) (disc 3)

*John Coltrane: A Love Supreme: Live in Seattle

*Deerhoof: Actually, You Can

*Michel Edelin Quintet: Echoes of Henry Cow

*Duke Ellington: All American in Jazz

*Duke Ellington's Spacemen: The Cosmic Scene

*Duke Ellington: The Jaywalker

*John Gilmore: Non-Sun Ra Sax Solos (youtube)

*Grateful Dead: Listen to the River: St. Louis '71 '72 '73 (disc 20) "Dark Star"

*Joe Henderson: Black Narcissus

*Bobby Hutcherson: Oblique

*Jefferson Pilot: Long Distance

*Hank Mobley: The Complete Blue Note Hank Mobley Fifties Sessions (discs 1, 2)

*Monstrance: Monstrance (discs 1, 2)

*RAIC: Gestalt

*Sam Rivers and the Rivbea Orchestra: Trilogy (disc 2)

*Matthew Shipp: Magnetism(s) (disc 2)

*Wadada Leo Smith/Milford Graves/Bill Laswell: Sacred Ceremonies (discs 2, 3)

*Tyshawn Sorey: Unfiltered (discs 1, 2)

*Sparks: Balls

*Stravinsky/Columbia Symphony Orchestra: Three Favorite Ballets: Stravinsky Conducts Firebird, Petrushka, The Rite of Spring (side 1)

*Sun Ra: Art Forms of Dimensions Tomorrow

*Sun Ra: Haverford College 1980 Solo Piano

*Henry Threadgill Zooid: This Brings Us To, Volume II

*Various artists: The Wire Tapper 57

*Nate Wooley: Mutual Aid Music (disc 2)

*World Saxophone Quartet: W.S.Q. 

*World Saxophone Quartet: Revue 

Reading List, Week of 2021-10-31

Reading List 2021-11-01:

*Macdonald, Ross. The Doomsters (reread/started)
*King, Owen, Mark Jude Poirier, and Nancy Ahn. Intro to Alien Invasion (started/finished)
*Lemire, Jeff. Essex County (started/finished)
*Mitchell, David. Utopia Avenue (started/finished)
*Smith, Ali. The Whole Story and Other Stories (started/finished)
*Steig, William. Abel's Island (started/finished)
*Smith, Ali. Like (finished)
*Badman, Keith. The Beach Boys: The Definitive Diary of America's Greatest Band: On Stage and In the Studio (reread/in progress)
*Booth, Stephen. Shakespeare's Sonnets (ed. with analytic commentary by Booth) (in progress)
*Brennan, Matt. Kick It: A Social History of the Drum Kit (in progress)
*Shakespeare, William. Sonnets (1609 Quarto) (reread/in progress)
*Shakespeare, William. Sonnets (ed. Helen Vendler) (reread/in progress)

Gerald Cleaver on Playing Free Music

 

If you're playing with some real fine improvisers, they're going to build some exceptional musical architecture. The idea of building structure is very important to me. It can be stream-of-consciousness playing as well. I relate it to a conversation. That cliché can become stretched, but you can elucidate a thesis in real time if you have enough understanding of your subject. It's like the joy of talking to people who know a lot about a lot of different things and are really passionate. You ask a question and they go off on a tangent and set up something new. That's what the music is to me. ("Gerald Cleaver," Modern Drummer 2014-07, p. 46)

Playlist, Week of 2021-10-24

Keep coming back to Such Sweet Thunder, a true Ellington masterpiece in a discography of so many masterpieces... the bonus tracks on my CD version are also some of his best '60s songs... over and over, over and over... I love how Muhal Richard Abrams fits right in with the Art Ensemble of Chicago on Fanfare for the Warriors... fits in tight... For a review of the new Jefferson Pilot, see here... All over again, I am quite taken and enchanted with "Cool Cool Water" from Sunflower... The new Deerhoof keeps kicking it... And then of course the new Coltrane... 

Playlist 2021-10-25:

*Muhal Richard Abrams: Spiral: Live at Montreux 1978 (side 2)
*AMM: The Crypt - 12th June 1968 (disc 2) "Coffin nor Shelf"
*Art Ensemble of Chicago: Fanfare for the Warriors (side 2)
*Art Ensemble of Chicago: Full Force (side 1)
*Beach Boys: Feel Flows: The Sunflower & Surf's Up Sessions 1969-1971 (discs 1, 5) (selections)
*Borderlands Trio: Wandersphere (discs 1, 2)
*Anthony Braxton with Dave Douglas: Six Standards (Quintet) 1996
*John Coltrane: A Love Supreme: Live in Seattle
*John Coltrane: Meditations "Love/Consequences/Serenity"
*Chick Corea: Sundance (side 1)
*Miles Davis: The Prestige 10-Inch LP Collection, Vol. 2 (LP 2 sides 1, 2)
*Deerhoof: Actually, You Can
*Duke Ellington and His Orchestra: Such Sweet Thunder
*Duke Ellington: 1899-1974 (side 3)
*Duke Ellington: The Girl's Suite and The Perfume Suite
*Duke Ellington: Live in Mexico "The Mexican Suite"
*Michael Formanek: The Rub and Spare Change
*Fred Frith/Anne Bourne/John Oswald: Dearness
*Grateful Dead: Listen to the River: St. Louis '71 '72 '73 (discs 5, 10, 17, 20)
*Herbie Hancock: The Prisoner (side 2)
*Herbie Hancock: Man-Child
*Joe Henderson: Canyon Lady
*Tim Hodgkinson: Under the Void
*Jefferson Pilot: Long Distance
*Joëlle Léandre/Nicole Mitchell: Sisters Where
*Roscoe Mitchell/Nicole Mitchell's Black Earth Ensemble: Three Compositions
*Evan Parker/Matthew Shipp: Leonine Aspects
*Evan Parker Quartet: All Knavery and Collusion
*Don Pullen: Mosaic Select (disc 3)
*RAIC: Gestalt
*Residents: Eskimo (pREServed Edition) (disc 2)
*Wadada Leo Smith/Milford Graves/Bill Laswell: Sacred Ceremonies (disc 1)
*Sparks: Sparks
*Sparks: Propaganda
*Sparks: Hello Young Lovers
*Sparks: A Steady Drip, Drip, Drip
*Sun Ra and His Astro-Ihnfinity Arkestra: Sun Embassy (side 2)
*Sun Ra: Lanquidity (45rpm version) (sides 5, 6)
*Craig Taborn's New Trio: 2020-11-06 NYC (CDR)
*Mary Lou Williams: Zodiac Suite
*Nate Wooley: Mutual Aid Music (disc 1)
*World Saxophone Quartet: Steppin' with the World Saxophone Quartet

Reading List, Week of 2021-10-24

Reading List 2021-10-25:

*Booth, Stephen. Shakespeare's Sonnets (ed. with analytic commentary by Booth) (started)
*Shakespeare, William. Sonnets (1609 Quarto) (reread/started)
*Shakespeare, William. Sonnets (ed. Helen Vendler) (reread/started)
*Smith, Ali. Like (started)
*Cameron, Lou. Lou Cameron's Unsleeping Dead (started/finished)
*Montgomery, L. M. Anne of Green Gables (started/finished)
*Hernandez, Jaime. Tonta (finished)
*Shakespeare, William. Pericles (reread/finished)
*Whitman, Walt. Leaves of Grass (Comprehensive Readers Ed., ed. Blodgett and Bradley) (finished)
*Badman, Keith. The Beach Boys: The Definitive Diary of America's Greatest Band: On Stage and In the Studio (reread/in progress)
*Brennan, Matt. Kick It: A Social History of the Drum Kit (in progress)

New RAIC album "Gestalt"

I am proud to appear on two tracks on Gestalt, the newest CD from RAIC... one of the tracks, "The Intergalactic Church of Kirk," is a repurposed outtake from the Ask the Trees sessions... it was also chosen as a track for the latest Wire Tapper... the other track I am on, the title cut, is a 15-minute improvisational epic with three drummers: Samuel Goff, Scott Clark, and myself... the rest of the CD is pretty nifty as well... standout tracks include "Baroche" with Laura Morina on vocals, and the lovely country tune "Three Sides to the Story"... all told, four of the members of New Ting appear on several tracks... 

New Jefferson Pilot Release: "Long Distance"

Long Distance, Jefferson Pilot's newest EP-length release, eases in with the melodica-soaked "Imperial Pint," and the mood it creates is sustained throughout the album's four pieces. The mood is ethereal and evocative, with a haziness and sense of brooding mystery that is enhanced by half-hidden voices and other more unidentifiable sounds. It's not creepy in the Halloween sense; it's more of a layering of insinuations of the unknown just lurking beyond the edge of realization. "Night Game" continues this experiment with strange percussive sounds and Robert Wyatt-esque vocalizing, further enhanced by the keyboard drone until a separate, more "musical" theme appears and then slowly dissipates in a layered, painterly fashion into a beautiful reverie before morphing into a percussive electronic soundscape. "Warehouse Dream" is a layered concoction of bells, chimes, and music-box keyboard sounds eventually overlaid by a fragmented vocal melody again insinuating more than meets the ear. "Point of Rocks" begins with a hint of "Close to the Edge"-intro style nature sounds as the piece continues to give a sense of almost-realized presences from other worlds, emphasized by the almost-angelic, chopped up vocalizing and by the disembodied questions posed as the piece unfolds and comes to a haunting end.

Long Distance has quickly become among my top favorites of Jefferson Pilot's work, largely because of its suite-like quality and its sustained mood. He has constructed a lovely soundscape of quietly epic proportions-- definitely one for the headphones.

(Full disclosure: Jefferson Pilot's my brother.)

 

Gig This Saturday

I'll be joining Jimmy Ghaphery (of New Ting) and Robert Andrew Scott (of RAIC) to supply some of the live music for this art auction at Studio Two Three in RVA this Saturday.  Should be..... quiet! 

Playlist, Week of 2021-10-17

A wealth of new music... hard to know where to start... will have separate posts on the new Jefferson Pilot and RAIC... Still need to absorb the new Deerhoof, but will say it strikes me as their strongest release since Breakup Song... I may be wrong... The Stan Getz Roost recordings proved to be the perfect soundtrack for the new Ellroy book... 

Playlist 2021-10-18:

*AMM: 1998-04-03 Padova, Italy (CDR)
*Albert Ayler: Holy Ghost (disc 3)
*Beach Boys: Feel Flows: The Sunflower & Surf's Up Sessions 1969-1971 (disc 1)
*Beatles: Magical Mystery Tour (2009 mono remaster) (side 1)
*Blue Buddha: Blue Buddha
*Rob Brown Quartet: Radiant Pools
*Deerhoof: Actually, You Can
*Duke Ellington: Duke 56/62 Vol. 1 (side 1)
*Duke Ellington and His Orchestra: A Drum Is a Woman
*Duke Ellington: 1899-1974 (sides 1, 2)
*Duke Ellington: Live in Mexico "The Mexican Suite"
*Chico Freeman Quintet: 1977-02-11 NYC (CDR) (discs 1, 2)
*Fred Frith/Nicolas Humbert/Marc Parisotto: Cut up the Border
*Stan Getz: The Complete Roost Recordings (disc s 2, 3)
*Kim Gordon/DJ Olive/Ikue Mori: Myūjikaru Pāsupekutibu
*Drew Gress: The Irrational Numbers
*Joe Henderson Quintet: At the Lighthouse
*Joe Henderson: In Pursuit of Blackness
*Joe Henderson: Joe Henderson in Japan
*Joe Henderson: Black Is the Color
*Jimi Hendrix Experience: 1969-01-23 Berlin (CDR)
*Jefferson Pilot: Long Distance
*Olivia Tremor Control: Presents: Singles and Beyond
*RAIC: Gestalt
*Sam Rivers and the Rivbea Orchestra: Trilogy (disc 1)
*Matthew Shipp: Magnetism(s) (disc 1)
*Sun Ra: Lanquidity (45rpm version) (side 7)
*UMO Jazz Orchestra: UMO Plays the Music Of Muhal Richard Abrams
*Upsetters 14 Dub: Blackboard Jungle (Auralux)
*John Zorn/Simulacrum: Nostradamus: The Death of Satan

Reading List, Week of 2021-10-17

 

Reading List 2021-10-18:

*Hernandez, Jaime. Tonta (started)
*Ellroy, James. Widespread Panic (started/finished)
*Wolfe, Gene. The Citadel of the Autarch (finished)
*Badman, Keith. The Beach Boys: The Definitive Diary of America's Greatest Band: On Stage and In the Studio (reread/in progress)
*Brennan, Matt. Kick It: A Social History of the Drum Kit (in progress)
*Shakespeare, William. Pericles (reread/in progress)
*Whitman, Walt. Leaves of Grass (Comprehensive Readers Ed., ed. Blodgett and Bradley) (in progress)

Playlist, Week of 2021-10-10

 

I love Billie Holiday, but the Decca sides start to get pretty maudlin at times... and not just because of the hackneyed string arrangements... defend them against the earlier stuff with Teddy Wilson... see? you can't.... 

Playlist 2021-10-11:

*Beatles: Hard Day's Night (2009 mono remaster)
*Anthony Braxton/John Lindberg: Six Duets (1982)
*Circle: 1971-03-03 Hamburg (CDR) "Comp. 6A"
*Duke Ellington: The Duke Ellington Carnegie Hall Concerts, December 1944 (disc 1)
*Michael Formanek: The Rub and Spare Change
*Herbie Hancock: Man-Child
*Joe Henderson: Power to the People
*Billie Holiday: The Complete Original American Decca Recordings (disc 1)
*Monstrance: Monstrance (disc 2)
*Colin Moulding: The Hardest Battle
*Lee "Scratch" Perry: Arkology (discs 2, 3)
*Wadada Leo Smith/Milford Graves/Bill Laswell: Sacred Ceremonies (discs 1, 2, 3)
*Sparks: Live at the Record Plant 1974
*Sparks: Left Coast Angst: Live Radio Broadcast Recordings 1982-1983
*Various artists: You Gotta Move! The Rock & Soul Sounds of Muscle Shoals, Alabama
*Nate Wooley: Mutual Aid Music (discs 1, 2)

Reading List, Week of 2021-10-10

Reading List 2021-10-11:

*Shakespeare, William. Pericles (reread/started)

*Wolfe, Gene. The Citadel of the Autarch (started)

*Macdonald, Ross. Find a Victim (reread/started/finished)

*Macdonald, Ross. The Barbarous Coast (reread/started/finished)

*Beaumont, Francis, and John Fletcher. Love's Pilgrimage (finished)

*Wolfe, Gene. The Sword of the Lictor (finished)

*Badman, Keith. The Beach Boys: The Definitive Diary of America's Greatest Band: On Stage and In the Studio (reread/in progress)

*Brennan, Matt. Kick It: A Social History of the Drum Kit (in progress)

*Whitman, Walt. Leaves of Grass (Comprehensive Readers Ed., ed. Blodgett and Bradley) (in progress)

Playlist, Week of 2021-01-03

Being amazed all over again by Robert Wyatt's drumming... especially on Little Red Record... especially on "Brandy as in Benj"... especially on the solo drum break around 3:42 where he plays the tricky convoluted head...

Playlist 2021-10-04:

*Anthony Braxton: The Complete Arista Recordings of Anthony Braxton (disc 4) "Opus 76 (Version Two)"
*Anthony Braxton: Octet (New York) 1995
*Anthony Braxton: Quartet (New Haven) 2014 (disc 2)
*Anthony Braxton: 12 Comp (ZIM) 2017 (Comp. 420)
*Burial: Untrue
*Burial: Tunes 2011-2019 (disc 2)
*Clash: Sandinista! (discs 1, 2)
*John Coltrane: Both Directions at Once: The Lost Album (Deluxe Edition) (disc 1)
*Connie Crothers/David Arner: Spontaneous Suite for Two Pianos (discs 3, 4)
*Chris Cutler & Fred Frith: Live In Moscow, Prague, & Washington
*Duke Ellington: The Centennial Edition: The Complete RCA-Victor Recordings (disc 14) (selections)
*Michel Edelin's Flute Fever Orchestra: Kalamania (disc 1)
*Eloping with the Sun: Counteract This Turmoil Like Trees and Birds
*Gilgamesh: Arriving Twice
*Gilgamesh: Another Fine Tune You've Got Me Into
*Hatfield and the North: Hatfield and the North
*Hatfield and the North: The Rotter's Club
*Joe Henderson: The Kicker
*Joe Henderson: Tetragon
*Joseph Jarman: As If It Were the Seasons "Song for Christopher"
*Matching Mole: Matching Mole
*Matching Mole: Matching Mole’s Little Red Record (expanded ed.) (discs 1, 2)
*Jackie McLean: Jacknife
*Jackie McLean: Consequence
*Medeski Martin & Wood: 2004-11-04 Seattle (CDR)
*Monstrance: Monstrance (disc 1)
*Joe Morris/ Tomeka Reid: Combinations
*Mr. Bungle: The Night They Came Home
*Mustafa Özkent: Gençlik İle Elele
*Jeff Parker/Rob Mazurek: Some Jellyfish Live Forever
*Don Pullen: Mosaic Select (disc 2)
*Soft Machine: Third
*Tyshawn Sorey: Unfiltered (disc 2)
*Sparks: Hippopotamus
*Craig Taborn's New Trio: 2020-11-06 NYC (CDR)
*Cecil Taylor: Spring of Two Blue-J's
*Neil Young: Oh Lonesome Me (CDR compilation)

Reading List, Week of 2021-10-03

Reading List 2021-10-04:

*Beaumont, Francis, and John Fletcher. Love's Pilgrimage (started)
*Wolfe, Gene. The Sword of the Lictor (started)
*Wolfe, Gene. The Claw of the Conciliator (started/finished)
*Wolfe, Gene. The Shadow of the Torturer (finished)
*Badman, Keith. The Beach Boys: The Definitive Diary of America's Greatest Band: On Stage and In the Studio (reread/in progress)
*Brennan, Matt. Kick It: A Social History of the Drum Kit (in progress)
*Whitman, Walt. Leaves of Grass (Comprehensive Readers Ed., ed. Blodgett and Bradley) (in progress)

Playlist, Week of 2021-09-26

Happy to see that Daniel Barbiero posted an old piece from 2013 he wrote for the Nancy Havlik Dance Performance Group that I participated in... nice photo here... Jackie McLean's alto tone is as sharp as a knife, and his solos consistently cut through the chord changes with intensity and bleeding-edge logic... Daevid Allen's merger with Acid Mothers Temple yielded some wonderfully strange, wacked-out results... 

Playlist 2021-09-27:

*Joshua Abrams' Cloud Script: Cloud Script
*George Adams/Don Pullen: Don't Lose Control (side 1)
*Lotte Anker/Fred Frith: Edge Of The Light
*Area: Are(A)zione (side 1)
*Albert Ayler: Holy Ghost (disc 2)
*Daniel Barbiero: 2013-04-13 Pyramid Atlantic, Silver Spring MD "Allusions to Ores & Ethers"
*Beach Boys: Feel Flows: The Sunflower & Surf's Up Sessions 1969-1971 (disc 1-5 selections)
*Anthony Braxton's Sonic Genome Project: 2010-01-31 Vancouver (CDR) (disc 1)
*Anthony Braxton: 12 Comp (ZIM) 2017 (Comp. 419)
*Ornette Coleman Double Quartet: Free Jazz (side 2)
*Crosby, Stills, Nash, & Young: Songs by Neil Young (CDR compilation)
*Deerhoof: Future Teenage Cave Artists
*Hamid Drake & Bindu: Blissful

*Duke Ellington: Primping for the Prom (side 1)

*Duke Ellington: The Private Collection, Vol. 5: The Suites "The Degas Suite"
*Scott Fields Ensemble: We Were the Phliks
*Gong: Acid Motherhood
*Mary Halvorson/John Dieterich: A Tangle of Stars
*Scotty Hard: Scotty Hard's Radical Reconstructive Surgery
*Billie Holiday: The Commodore Master Takes
*King Crimson: Starless (disc 13)
*Joëlle Léandre/Nicole Mitchell/Dylan van der Schiff: Before After
*Michael Mantler: Hide and Seek
*Jackie McLean: It's Time!
*Jackie McLean: Action
*Jackie McLean: Right Now!
*Joe Morris Quartet: Graffiti in Two Parts
*New Ting: 2021-09-11 Hell's Door, RVA (wav)
*PainKiller: Execution Ground (disc 2)
*Lee Perry: I Am the Upsetter (discs 3, 4)
*Lee "Scratch" Perry: Arkology (disc 1)
*Didier Petit/Alexandre Pierrepont: Passages: A Road Record (Woodstock-New York-Chicago-Los Angeles)
*Tyshawn Sorey: Unfiltered (disc 1)
*Sparks: Left Coast Angst: Live Radio Broadcast Recordings 1982-1983
*Sparks: Balls
*Larry Young: Of Love and Peace
*Larry Young: Contrasts
*Larry Young: Heaven on Earth
*Larry Young: Mother Ship
*John Zorn/Fred Frith: The Art of Memory

Reading List, Week of 2021-09-26

 

Reading List 2021-09-27:

*Wolfe, Gene. The Shadow of the Torturer (started)
*Atkinson, Kate. One Good Turn (started/finished)
*Rodkey, Geoff. Lights Out in Lincolnwood (started/finished)
*Badman, Keith. The Beach Boys: The Definitive Diary of America's Greatest Band: On Stage and In the Studio (reread/in progress)
*Brennan, Matt. Kick It: A Social History of the Drum Kit (in progress)
*Whitman, Walt. Leaves of Grass (Comprehensive Readers Ed., ed. Blodgett and Bradley) (in progress)

Ronald Shannon Jackson on Drumming

 

Valerie Wilmer: How did it feel when you worked together with Ornette's son Denardo in his father's band?

Ronald Shannon Jackson: That was a challenge. It was a very interesting point in my life. Denardo plays from the spirit of joy. I had to learn another way of dialog--not learn--but I had to think differently, because in this country, drums can be a very ego instrument. Working with Ornette makes you feel you have to get rid of that and start thinking in terms of how you're going to make the music feel. (Valerie Wilmer, "Interview: Ronald Shannon Jackson," Down Beat August 1982, p. 68, emphasis in original)

Playlist, Week of 2021-09-19

Still absorbing the wealth of new materials from the Beach Boys... and listening to healthy doses of free jazz and reggae while I do so... 

Playlist 2021-09-20:

*Albert Ayler: Holy Ghost (disc 1)
*Beach Boys: Feel Flows: The Sunflower & Surf's Up Sessions 1969-1971 (disc 1, disc 2-5 selections)
*Beatles: Sgt. Peppers Lonely Heart Club Band (Anniversary Ed.) (side 4)
*Anthony Braxton: 12 Comp (ZIM) 2017 (Comp. 418)
*Anthony Braxton: Quartet (Standards) 2020 (discs 7, 8 streaming)
*Chicago Trio: Velvet Songs (To Baba Fred Anderson) (discs 1, 2)
*Ornette Coleman Double Quartet: Free Jazz (side 1)
*Duke Ellington/John Coltrane: Duke Ellington & John Coltrane (side 2)
*Stan Getz: The Complete Roost Recordings (disc 1)
*Grant Green: Street of Dreams
*Grant Green: I Want to Hold Your Hand
*Indigo Trio: Anaya
*Shannon Jackson & the Decoding Society: Street Priest (side 1)
*Christina McBride Band: Vertical Vision
*John Medeski: Crawlspace
*Roscoe Mitchell/Sandy Ewen/Damon Smith/Weasel Walter: A Railroad Spike Forms the Voice
*New Ting: 2021-09-11 Hell's Door, RVA (wav)
*Larry Ochs/Miya Masaoka/Peggy Lee: Spiller Alley
*William Parker Double Quartet: Alphaville Suite
*Lee Perry: I Am the Upsetter (discs 1, 2)
*Quiet Sun: Mainstream
*RAIC: Lovers Never Leave
*Right Hemisphere: Right Hemisphere
*Sparks: Kimono My House
*Sparks: Propaganda
*Sun Ra: The Eternal Myth Revealed, Vol. 1 (disc 7)
*Sun Ra and His Solar Arkestra: Other Planes of There "Other Planes of There"
*Sun Ra: Lanquidity (45rpm version) (side 7)
*Sun Ra: On Jupiter (side 2)
*Craig Taborn: 60 x Sixty (streaming)
*Dennis Wilson: Pacific Ocean Blue (disc 1)
*XTC: Skylarking (side 2)
*Larry Young: Into Somethin’
*John Zorn/Simulacrum: Nostradamus: The Death of Satan

Reading List, Week of 2021-09-19

Reading List 2021-09-20:

*Badman, Keith. The Beach Boys: The Definitive Diary of America's Greatest Band: On Stage and In the Studio (reread/started)
*Atkinson, Kate. Case Histories (started/finished)
*Brown, Craig. 150 Glimpses of the Beatles (started/finished)
*King, Stephen. Billy Summers (finished)
*Brennan, Matt. Kick It: A Social History of the Drum Kit (in progress)
*Whitman, Walt. Leaves of Grass (Comprehensive Readers Ed., ed. Blodgett and Bradley) (in progress)

New Ting: Live Video Available

New Ting played outside at Hell's Door in Richmond VA on September 11, 2021, and we were captured on video by Silver Persinger. The video's up on youtube. I'm not going to try to embed it; you can watch it here. Big fun!

Playlist, Week of 2021-09-12

A lot of my listening is exploring new stuff I'm not as familiar with... always trying to hear more... but it's also nice to visit old favorites that are imprinted in my brain (like the Beatles and the Beach Boys)... particularly this week two old favorites really did me in all over again: The Inner Mounting Flame and The Far East Suite... whoa... even though I know these albums intimately, both of them left me gobsmacked as the freshness of their sound and the ingenuity of new details revealed many new aspects I hadn't heard before... like all great jazz records, they always reward repeated listening... 

Playlist 2021-09-13:

*Beach Boys: Feel Flows: The Sunflower & Surf's Up Sessions 1969-1971 (discs 1, 2, 3, 4, 5)
*Beatles: Sgt. Peppers Lonely Heart Club Band (Anniversary Ed.) (side 3)
*Jeff Beck: You Had It Coming
*Crosby, Stills, Nash, & Young: Take My Hand (Fillmore East 1970-06) (discs 1, 2)
*Anthony Braxton Quartet: 1976-10-28 Graz, Austria (CDR) (track 3)
*Anthony Braxton: 12 Comp (ZIM) 2017 (Comp. 416)
*John Coltrane: Transition "Suite"
*Connie Crothers/David Arner: Spontaneous Suite for Two Pianos (disc 2)
*Dutch Jazz Orchestra: Portrait of a Silk Thread: Newly Discovered Works of Billy Strayhorn
*Duke Ellington and His Orchestra: The Works of Duke: Integrale Volume 22 (side 2)
*Duke Ellington: The Far East Suite
*Grant Green: Talkin' About!
*Mary Halvorson's Code Girl: Artlessly Falling
*Jimi Hendrix: Burning Desire "Ezy Ryder/MLK Jam"
*Joëlle Léandre and George Lewis: Transatlantic Visions
*Mahavishnu Orchestra: The Inner Mounting Flame
*Roscoe Mitchell/David Wessel: Contact "Schreeds"
*New Ting: 2021-09-11 Hell's Door, RVA (wav)
*Tony Oxley/Derek Bailey Quartet: 1993-09 Crawley, England (CDR)
*Tony Oxley Celebration Orchestra: The Enchanted Messenger
*Andy Partridge: My Failed Songwriting Career, Vol 1
*Didier Petit: D'Accord
*Robert Pollard: Standard Gargoyle Decisions
*Don Pullen: Mosaic Select (disc 1)
*Matthew Shipp: Un Piano
*Tyshawn Sorey: Unfiltered (discs 1, 2)
*Sparks: Balls
*Sparks: Hippopotamus
*Sun Ra: Lanquidity (45rpm version) (sides 1, 2, 3, 4)
*Charles Tolliver Big Band: Mosaic Select (disc 2)
*Various artists: Rough Guide to Salsa
*Various artists: WSAM: 2008 Start (CDR compilation)
*Neil Young: Oh Lonesome Me (CDR compilation)

Reading List, Week of 2021-09-12

 

Reading List 2021-09-13:

*King, Stephen. Billy Summers (started)
*Smith, Ali. There but for the (started/finished)
*'Every Sound There Is': The Beatles' Revolver and the Transformation of Rock and Roll (ed. Russell Reising) (finished)
*Smith, Ali. The First Person (finished)
*Brennan, Matt. Kick It: A Social History of the Drum Kit (in progress)
*Whitman, Walt. Leaves of Grass (Comprehensive Readers Ed., ed. Blodgett and Bradley) (in progress)

New Ting: Gig This Saturday 2011-09-11

This will be the first gig for New Ting since before the pandemic... our last show was at Shockoe Denim in January 2020. This Saturday, Sept. 11. Outdoors, at Hells Door, downtown RVA. Show starts at 5 pm. New Ting will be a quartet this evening: Tommy Birchett, Jimmy Ghaphery, Fred McGann, and Sam Byrd (me). A fun lineup, a fun venue, hope the weather's fun too!

 

Playlist, Week of 2021-09-05

Big listening of the week (and for many weeks to come!): the new Beach Boys box set Feel Flows... early highlights: all of the unreleased Dennis Wilson compositions... some great live stuff, including a killer 1973 "Surf's Up" with Carl Wilson nailing it beautifully... a wonderful Brian Wilson composition ("Won't You Tell Me")... and so much more... too bad about the cover... but very rarely do latter-day Beach Boys compilations have decent art... in fact, can't think of any off the top of my head... but it ain't about the cover....

Playlist 2021-09-06:

*Marshall Allen/Matthew Shipp/Joe Morris: Night Logic
*Beach Boys: Feel Flows: The Sunflower & Surf's Up Sessions 1969-1971 (discs 1, 2, 3, 4, 5)
*Beatles: Revolver (2009 stereo remaster) (sides 1, 2)
*Beatles: Sgt. Peppers Lonely Heart Club Band (Anniversary Ed.) (side 1)
*Anthony Braxton & the Wesleyan Tri-Centric Orchestra: 2011-04-25 Middletown, CT (CDR) (disc 1)
*Anthony Braxton: Quartet (New Haven) 2014 (discs 1, 2)
*Anthony Braxton: 12 Comp (ZIM) 2017 (Comp. 414, 415)
*Anthony Braxton: Quartet (Standards) 2020 (disc 6 streaming)
*De La Soul: Stakes Is High
*Michel Edelin Trio: Kuntu
*Duke Ellington & His Orchestra: Up in Duke's Workshop
*Buddy Holly: The Buddy Holly Collection (disc 2)
*I.P.Y.: IPY
*Medeski Martin & Wood: 2004-11-04 Seattle (CDR)
*Nicole Mitchell Black Earth Ensemble/Ensemble Laborintus: Moments Of Fatherhood
*MMM Quartet: Oakland/Lisboa
*Moving Gelatine Plates: Moving Gelatine Plates
*PainKiller: Guts of a Virgin
*Jaco Pastorius: Jaco
*Roxy Music: Country Life
*DJ Shadow & Cut Chemist: Brainfreeze
*Sparks: Two Hands One Mouth: Live in Europe (disc 1)
*Tarbaby: Fanon
*Charles Tolliver Big Band: Mosaic Select (disc 1)
*Various artists: The Wrecking Crew (disc 4)
*Chick Webb & Ella Fitzgerald: The Complete Chick Webb & Ella Fitzgerald Decca Sessions (1934-1941) (disc 4)
*Amy Winehouse: Back to Black (side 1)

Reading List, Week of 2021-09-05

Reading List 2021-09-06:

*Smith, Ali. The First Person (started)
*Smith, Ali. The Accidental (started/finished)
*Smith, Ali. Hotel World (finished)
*Brennan, Matt. Kick It: A Social History of the Drum Kit (in progress)
*'Every Sound There Is': The Beatles' Revolver and the Transformation of Rock and Roll (ed. Russell Reising) (in progress)
*Whitman, Walt. Leaves of Grass (Comprehensive Readers Ed., ed. Blodgett and Bradley) (in progress)

Ringo

In most accounts, Ringo has been characterized as an average drummer with severe technical limitations. I would counter that such a characterization demonstrates a very narrow understanding of what constitutes good drumming technique--one that takes into account only speed and intricacy without acknowledging timbre and tempo management as vital aspects of drumming performance practice. (Steven Bauer, "Ringo Round Revolver: Rhythm, Timbre, and Tempo in Rock Drumming," in 'Every Sound There Is:' The Beatles' Revolver and the Transformation of Rock and Roll, ed. Russell Reising, Ashgate 2002, p. 179)

Playlist, Week of 2021-08-29

Thanks to my wife, I've been getting into the wild and wacky world of Sparks, and quite enjoying it... the Edgar Wright film was a nice little overview... More excellent Alexander Hawkins on Louis Moholo Moholo's 4 Blokes... More excellent Nels Cline on Music from the Early 21st Century... More excellent Ingrid Laubrock on Tom Rainey's latest Obbligato record... 

Playlist 2021-08-30:

*Anthony Braxton: Quartet (Standards) 2020 (disc 5 streaming)
*Rodger Coleman and Sam Byrd: 2009-07-23 Nashville (wav) track 3 (moon landing)
*Connie Crothers/David Arner: Spontaneous Suite for Two Pianos (disc 1)
*Duke Ellington and His Orchestra: Togo Brava Suite (Storyville)
*Alexander Hawkins and Evan Parker: Leaps in Leicester
*Mars Volta: Amputechture
*Roscoe Mitchell/Jerzy Mazzoll/Sławek Janicki/Qba Janicki: Four Sure
*Louis Moholo Moholo Quartet: 4 Blokes
*David Murray/Milford Graves: Real Deal
*Bobby Previte/Jamie Saft/Nels Cline: Music from the Early 21st Century
*Tom Rainey Obbligato: Untucked in Hannover
*Roxy Music: Stranded
*Sparks: Komono My House
*Sparks: Propaganda
*Sparks: Indiscreet
*Sparks: Past Tense (The Best of Sparks) (discs 1, 2, 3)
*Sparks: A Steady Drip, Drip, Drip
*Sun Ra: The Eternal Myth Revealed, Vol. 1 (disc 6)
*Sun Ra: Lanquidity (45rpm version) (sides 5, 6, 7, 8)
*John Zorn/Simulacrum: Nostradamus: The Death of Satan