Playlist, Weeks of 2022-04-17 and 04-24

Catching up....

Playlist 2022-04-25:

*Beach Boys: Sounds of Summer: The Very Best of the Beach Boys (sides 1, 2, 3, 4)

*Anthony Braxton: 12 Comp (ZIM) 2017 (Comp. 415)

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

*Miles Davis: Seven Steps: The Complete Columbia Recordings of Miles Davis 1963-1964 (disc 2)

*Deerhoof: La Isla Bonita

*Deerhoof: Devil Kids

*Deftones: Koi No Yokan

*Whit Dickey/William Parker/Matthew Shipp: Village Mothership

*Earth Wind and Fire: I Am

*Duke Ellington and His Orchestra: Rare "Live"Recordings 1952-3 (disc 3)

*Duke Ellington: The Jaywalker

*Duke Ellington: New York, New York

*Jimi Hendrix: Burning Desire "Ezy Ryder/MLK Jam"

*Henry Kaiser/Robert Musso: Echoes For Sonny

*Kinks: The Anthology 1964-1971 (discs 1, 2) (selections)

*Cindy Lee: Malenkost

*Damon Locks Black Monument Ensemble: NOW

*Myra Melford: Snowy Egret

*Roscoe Mitchell: Not Yet

*Hank Mobley: The Complete Hank Mobley Blue Note Sessions 1963-70 (disc 1)

*Charlie Parker: Unheard Bird: The Unissued Takes (disc 2)

*Annette Peacock: The Perfect Release (side 1)

*Rufus featuring Chaka Khan: Ask Rufus

*Sparks: Kimono My House (sides 1, 2)

*Sparks: Propaganda (sides 1, 2)

*Sparks: Indiscreet (side 1)

*Sparks: Big Beat (selections) 

*Sparks: Gratuitous Sax & Senseless Violins (selections)

*Sparks: Hippopotamus (selections)

*Sparks: A Steady Drip, Drip, Drip (selections)

*Sparks/Franz Ferdinand: FFS

*Sun Ra Arkestra: Swirling

*Various artists: 13 Miniatures for Albert Ayler

*Anna Webber: Idiom (disc 1)

*Mary Lou Williams: Zodiac Suite

*Wings: Wild Life

*Stevie Wonder: Feeding off the Love of the Land: Various Songs (1974-1975) (boot CDR)

*Stevie Wonder: Ribbon in the Sky: Various Songs (1977-1091) (boot CDR)

*John Zorn: The Gift

*John Zorn/Insurrection: Salem 1692

*John Zorn/Chaos Magick: The Ninth Circle

 

Reading List, Weeks of 2022-04-17 and 04-24

Reading List 2022-04-25:

*Nguyen, Viet Thanh. The Sympathizer (started)
*Barbiero, Daniel. As Within So Without (finished)
*Beaumont, Francis, and John Fletcher. Love's Cure (revised by Philip Massinger) (started/finished)
*Beaumont, Francis, and John Fletcher. The Noble Gentleman (started/finished)
*Beaumont, Francis, and John Fletcher. Beggar's Bush (revised by Philip Massinger) (started/finished)
*Stephenson, Neal. Termination Shock (finished)
*Shakespeare, William. Sonnets (Arden 3rd series, ed. Katherine Duncan-Jones) (reread/in progress)
*Winn, John C. Way Beyond Compare: The Beatles' Recorded Legacy, Vol. 1: 1957-1965 (in progress)

Playlist, Week of 2022-04-10

Been thinking about how I choose what to listen to...

Playlist 2022-04-11:

*AMM: Laminal (disc 1)
*Albert Ayler: Holy Ghost (disc 6)
*Daniel Barbiero: .​.​.​For Double Bass & Prerecorded Electronics
*Anthony Braxton: 12 Comp (ZIM) 2017 (Comp. 414)
*Anthony Braxton: Quartet (Standards) 2020 (discs 9, 10) (streaming)
*Marilyn Crispell/Gary Peacock/Paul Motian: Nothing Ever Was, Anyway (disc 2)
*Deerhoof: Actually, You Can
*Duke Ellington: At the Hurricane
*Duke Ellington: At the Hollywood Empire
*Duke Ellington and His Orchestra: Rare "Live"Recordings 1952-3 (disc 1)
*Duke Ellington and His Orchestra: Jazz at the Plaza Vol. II (sides 1, 2)
*Duke Ellington: My People: The Complete Concert
*Duke Ellington: The Piano Player
*Duke Ellington: The Jaywalker
*Duke Ellington: New York, New York
*Duke Ellington: An Intimate Piano Session
*Nick Fraser/Kris Davis/Tony Malaby: Zoning
*Barry Guy/Marilyn Crispell/Paul Lytton: Odyssey
*Andrew Hill: Dance with Death
*Ingrid Laubrock + Kris Davis: Blood Moon
*Paul McCartney and Wings: Red Rose Speedway (side 1)
*Myra Melford: 2009-07-07 NYC (CDR) (disc 2)
*Matt Mitchell/Kate Gentile: Snark Horse (discs 1, 2)
*Roscoe Mitchell/Anthony Braxton Creative Orchestra: 1984-06-30 Austria (CDR) "track 2"
*Paradoxical Frog: Union
*Charlie Parker: Unheard Bird: The Unissued Takes (disc 1)
*William Parker: Mayan Space Station
*Ivo Perelman/Matthew Shipp: Amalgam
*Simulacrum: Beyond Good and Evil
*Sparks: Big Beat (sides 1, 2)
*Sparks: Introducing Sparks
*Cecil Taylor: Garden (disc 1) "Elell"
*Henry Threadgill Zooid: This Brings Us To, Volume II
*Brian Wilson: Long Promised Road
*Stevie Wonder: On the Right Track: Various Songs (1972-1973) (boot CDR)
*John Zorn: Heaven and Earth Magick
*John Zorn: Bagatelles Vol. 1: Mary Halvorson Quartet
*John Zorn: Bagatelles Vol. 2: Michael Nicolas/Erik Friedlander

 

Reading List, Week 2022-04-10

 

Reading List 2022-04-11:

*Barbiero, Daniel. As Within So Without (started)
*Stephenson, Neal. Termination Shock (started)
*Corey, James S. A. Leviathan Falls (started/finished)
*Mailer, Norman. Harlot's Ghost (finished)
*Shakespeare, William. Sonnets (Arden 3rd series, ed. Katherine Duncan-Jones) (reread/in progress)
*Winn, John C. Way Beyond Compare: The Beatles' Recorded Legacy, Vol. 1: 1957-1965 (in progress)

Big Ears Festival Report, Days 3 and 4

 

Saturday started off with a bang with Myra Melord's Snowy Egret. With the authority of the master she is, she guided the band through a myriad of fascinating compositions, all the while punctuating the music with her brilliant playing. I enjoyed it most when she took it out, and there were occasionally Cecil Taylor-level flights of energy, but they didn't last as long as I would have liked. She's clearly capable of sustaining that comparison. 

Most of the rest of the festival was taken up for me with the various programs associated with John Zorn. "Songs for Petra" featured vocalist Petra Haden (Charlie Haden's daughter) with a quartet featuring Julian Lage on guitar, performing torch songs composed by Zorn and Jesse Harris. Her voice was appealing enough, and Lage's guitar solo always had interest, but after a while it felt like... I don't know, a background group on Prairie Home Companion? Not to my taste. 

The next show was more up my alley: Simulacrum, featuring the powerhouse trio of John Medeski on organ, Matt Hollenberg on guitar, and the amazing Kenny Grohowski on drums. Medeski has never played better than when he's performing Zorn's compositions in this context, and I gotta say: he sounded great. Grohowski was a revelation: easily one of the most dynamic, inventive drummers I've ever seen. He sailed through the hairpin twists and turns of the avant-death metal/organ trio jazz/Carl Stalling-style zaniness with expertise, inventiveness, and flair. The whole band was extremely powerful and unrelentingly tight. A true highlight of the festival.

Next up was a completely improvised duo with master drummer Andrew Cyrille and guitarist Marc Ribot. I respect, but am not enthralled with, Ribot's playing, and here I felt he didn't give Cyrille much space or direction to respond. He just started in on a very rhythmic drone thing that overly dictated the direction, and it felt like he was just going through the motions. Only when Cyrille was able to open the sound up rhythmically did the music take on interest. Cyrille, of course, played excellently throughout.

I was prepared for the onslaught of Simulacrum, but I was totally unprepared for how viscerally exciting Annette Peacock was. (No pictures were allowed, so I just got a shot of her setup.) She came out almost wraith-like, appearing as if from the mist, and played in almost total darkness, just her voice and piano, and occasionally pre-programmed drum machine beats. I was not familiar with any of the songs she sang, but they were mostly in the vain of her earlier compositions as featured on the Marilyn Crispell trio record of her compositions... sparse, evocative, contemplative, utterly and deeply beautiful and moving. And her voice was, amazingly, stronger and purer than I've ever heard it. I was utterly flabbergasted by the time she finished, as she floated away in the dark to a sample of her voice crooning into nothingness.... really amazing.

So that was Saturday! Sunday was all Zorn all day, beginning with pianist Stephen Gosling playing Zorn compositions for solo piano. Gosling deftly executed these pieces (which as you'd expect were all over the place from manic abstract darting lines to Romantic etudes) with flair and artfulness. 

Then, just in case Simulacrum wasn't intense enough, they upped the ante by adding keyboardist Brian Marsella to the trio to become Chaos Magick. The material was very similar to the trio book, and the music was extremely exciting, gut-wrenching, and mind-blowing, often reaching Mahavishnu-like levels of intensity (with Marsella taking the Jan Hammer role with his intense, over-the-top electric piano work). I've never seen anything like it (except for Simulacrum the day before, heh heh). One of the highlights was Zorn himself coming out on stage to do a bit of conducting and hand magic, as if the sheet music weren't enough.

Next up: Heaven and Earth Magick, with Gosling returning on piano, joined by bassist Jorge Roeder, drummer Ches Smith, and vibraphonist Sae Hashimoto. More remarkable Zorn compositions played by brilliant musicians. It was great to see Smith in so many different contexts over the course of the festival. 

The evening, and the whole festival, built up to an amazing climax, first with the New Masada Quartet: Roeder on bass, Julian Lage on guitar, Kenny Wollesen on drums (it really was drummer heaven!) and Zorn himself on alto sax. Hyperactive Ornette territory with fantastic playing from everyone. Zorn's alto work continues to pack a powerful punch. It was clearly his show; he dictated everything that happened, but at least he did so tastefully, with exciting material and brilliant musicians to execute his every whim.

Finally, a big blowout from New Electric Masada: all of Chaos Magick, all of New Masada, plus Bill Frisell on guitar. With both Wollesen and Smith on hands for drums, Grohowski was relegated to percussion. I enjoyed his work regardless but would have welcomed the opportunity to see him on drums one last amazing time...oh well. Smith and Wollsesen did not disappoint. The band was tight, Zorn conducted and controlled it all, and the music was energetic and appropriately climactic. An outstanding way to close out a truly amazing four days of innovative and life-affirming music.

Playlist, Week of 2021-04-03

Still absorbing all the music I saw at Big Ears, so I spent a lot of time this week listening to many of the folks I saw, like the amazing, cerebral Kris Davis, as well as Myra Melford, Brian Marsella, the astonishing drummer Kenny Grohowski, Sparks, and Annette Peacock (represented here by her music as played by the Marilyn Crispell trio)... 

Playlist 2022-04-04:

*Daniel Barbiero: .​.​.​For Double Bass & Prerecorded Electronics
*Beethoven: Symphonies Nos. 5 & 7 (BBC Scottish SO)
*Borderlands Trio: Asteroidea
*Anthony Braxton: GTM (Syntax) 2017 (disc 3) (streaming)
*Anthony Braxton: Quartet (Standards) 2020 (discs 7, 8) (streaming)
*Burial: Antidawn
*Marilyn Crispell/Gary Peacock/Paul Motian: Nothing Ever Was, Anyway (disc 1)
*Stephan Crump/Ingrid Laubrock/Cory Smythe: Planktonic Finales
*Kris Davis Trio: Waiting for You to Grow
*Kris Davis/Ingrid Laubrock: 2020-03-08 Toronto (CDR)
*Kris Davis: Duology
*Miles Davis: Seven Steps: The Complete Columbia Recordings of Miles Davis 1963-1964 (disc 1)
*Duke Ellington and His Orchestra: Rare "Live"Recordings 1952-3 (disc 2)
*Duke Ellington: The Girl's Suite and The Perfume Suite
*Dexter Gordon: Our Man in Paris
*Herbie Hancock: Takin' Off
*Freddie Hubbard: Here to Stay
*Percy Jones/Alex Skolnick/Kenny Grohowski/Tim Motzer: PAKT (discs 1, 2)
*Ingrid Laubrock: 2009-08-01 The Stone, NYC (CDR)
*Ingrid Laubrock Anti-House: 2016-11-12 Wels, Austria (CDR)
*Brian Marsella: Gatos Do Sul
*Myra Melford: 2009-07-07 NYC (CDR)
*Myra Melford: Snowy Egret
*Myra Melford's Snowy Egret: The Other Side of Air
*Lee Morgan: Search for the New Land
*OOIOO: Gamel
*Sparks: Kimono My House (sides 1, 2)
*Sparks: Propaganda (sides 1, 2)
*Sparks: Indiscreet (sides 1, 2)
*Sparks: The Rest of Sparks (sides 1, 2)
*Sparks: Gratuitous Sax & Senseless Violins (sides 1, 2)
*Sparks: 2006-09-30 London (DVD)
*Sun Ra and His Intergalactic Infinity Arkestra: The Night of the Purple Moon
*Sun Beach Ra Boy: Of Mythic Beaches (CDR compilation)
*Cecil Taylor: The Complete, Legendary, Live Return Concert at the Town Hall NYC November 4, 1973
*Henry Threadgill Zooid: This Brings Us To, Volume I
*Turbine!: Entropy/Enthalpy (discs 1, 2)
*Anna Webber: Idiom (discs 1, 2)
*Mary Lou Williams & Cecil Taylor: Embraced (side 2)
*John Zorn: Chaos Magick 

Reading List, Week of 2022-04-03

 

Reading List 2022-04-04:

*Mailer, Norman. Harlot's Ghost (in progress)
*Shakespeare, William. Sonnets (Arden 3rd series, ed. Katherine Duncan-Jones) (reread/in progress)
*Winn, John C. Way Beyond Compare: The Beatles' Recorded Legacy, Vol. 1: 1957-1965 (in progress)