Playlist, Week of 2022-06-26

Getting geared up to see Stereolab in October... it promises to be an exciting fall, what with Ringo in September (after the bitter disappointment of the tour postponement of this month due to covid... hope they're all okay....)... I have always had mixed feelings about recordings of Prince live... they're often short on substance and long on flash and "put your hands together"-style exhortations... in that respect, the new Prince & the Revolution Live is better than most... the band is super-tight, and Prince avoids his usual modus operandi of treating so many songs as medleys, but there's still the annoyances of having the audience sing as loud as the band (they totally ruin "Purple Rain" for me by singing the ending melody, really loudly, at the beginning of the song... c'mon....) and of Prince doing that annoying, high-pitched "ooh-hoo ooh-hoo" thing he seemed to be so fond of... but the guitar playing is brilliant throughout and we get fully-fleshed versions of every song from Purple Rain... 

Playlist 2022-06-27:

*Souren Baronian: The Middle Eastern Soul of Carlee Records (discs 1, 2)
*Tim Berne's Snakeoil: The Deceptive 4 (Live) (disc 2) "Spare/Cittá"
*Paul Bley: Annette
*Anthony Braxton: Trillium E (disc 3) "Act 3, Part 1"
*Coheed and Cambria: The Second Stage Turbine Blade
*Coheed and Cambria: In Keeping Secrets of Silent Earth: 3
*Rodger Coleman/Sam Byrd: Who Doesn't Fade? "Who Doesn't Fade?"
*John Coltrane: A Love Supreme: Live in Seattle
*Deerhoof: Actually, You Can
*Deerhoof: Devil Kids
*Funkadelic: One Nation Under a Groove: The Mixes
*Jimmy Giuffre: Free Fall
*Julius Hemphill: Dogon A.D.
*Andrew Hill: Mosaic Select (disc 2)
*Irreversible Entanglements: Open the Gates
*Percy Jones/Alex Skolnick/Kenny Grohowski/Tim Motzer: PAKT (disc 1)
*King Crimson: Larks' Tongues in Aspic (2012 Wilson/Fripp mix)
*King Crimson: Starless (disc 18)
*Lata Mangeshkar: The Golden Voice of Lata Mangeshkar
*Myra Melford's Happy Whistlings: 2010-04-09 New Haven CT (CDR) (disc 2)
*Roscoe Mitchell Sound Ensemble: Live in Detroit "Snurdy McGurdy and Her Dancing Shoes/Spirits Among Stones"
*Hank Mobley: The Complete Hank Mobley Blue Note Sessions 1963-70 (disc 6)
*Prince: Prince and the Revolution Live (discs 1, 2)
*Sparks: Propaganda
*Stereolab: Emperor Tomato Ketchup
*Stereolab: Dots and Loops
*Stereolab: Serene Velocity: A Stereolab Anthology
*Sun Ra: Intergalactic Research (The Lost Reels Collection Vol. 2)
*Sunn O))): Kannon
*Cecil Taylor Big Band: 1995-07-03 NYC (CDR) (disc 2)
*Tool: Lateralus
*White Stripes: Elephant
*John Zorn: The Big Gundown
*John Zorn: Bagatelles Vol. 6: Brian Marsella Trio

Reading List, Week of 2022-06-26

Reading List 2022-06-27:

*Herbert, Frank. Children of Dune (reread/started)
*Herbert, Frank. Dune Messiah (reread/started/finished)
*Shakespeare, William. The Taming of the Shrew (NCS 3rd ed., ed. Ann Thompson) (reread/in progress)
*Winn, John C. Way Beyond Compare: The Beatles' Recorded Legacy, Vol. 1: 1957-1965 (in progress)

Playlist, Week of 2022-06-19

Travel time once again....

Playlist 2022-06-20:

*Daniel Barbiero: .​.​.​For Double Bass & Prerecorded Electronics
*Beach Boys: Feel Flows: The Sunflower & Surf's Up Sessions 1969-1971 (disc 2)
*Tim Berne's Snakeoil: Shadow Man "Socket"
*Paul Bley: Annette
*Anthony Braxton: Seven Compositions (Trio) 1989
*Anthony Braxton: Composition No. 173
*Anthony Braxton: Quartet (Standards) 2020 (disc 3) (streaming)
*Cactus: Cactus (side 1)
*Steve Coleman and the Council of Balance: Genesis
*Dutch Jazz Orchestra: Something to Live For: The Music of Billy Strayhorn
*Bob Dylan/Various artists: Theme Time Radio Hour "Drinking"
*Floating Points, Pharoah Sanders, and the London Symphony Orchestra: Promises
*Go!: Occidental Tourist (selections)
*Keith Jarrett: Treasure Island
*Percy Jones/Alex Skolnick/Kenny Grohowski/Tim Motzer: PAKT (disc 2)
*Myra Melford's Happy Whistlings: 2010-04-09 New Haven CT (CDR) (disc 1)
*Charles Mingus: Mingus Three (disc 1)
*Matt Mitchell/Kate Gentile: Snark Horse (disc 3)
*Hank Mobley: The Complete Hank Mobley Blue Note Sessions 1963-70 (disc 5)
*New Ting: 2022-06-07 "Undergrowth" (wav)
*Rova: As Was
*Manfred Schoof Quintet: Voices
*Sparks: playlist selections
*Stereolab: Refried Ectoplasm (Switched On Vol. 2)
*Sun Ra and His Solar Arkestra: Secrets of the Sun
*John Zorn: Bagatelles Vol. 5: Kris Davis Quartet

Reading List, Week of 2022-06-19

Reading List 2022-06-20:

*Shakespeare, William. The Taming of the Shrew (NCS, ed. Ann Thompson) (reread/started)
*The Cambridge Companion to Nabokov (ed. Julian W. Connolly) (finished)
*Herbert, Frank. Dune (reread/finished)
*Winn, John C. Way Beyond Compare: The Beatles' Recorded Legacy, Vol. 1: 1957-1965 (in progress)

Playlist, Week of 2022-06-12

Easing into warm weather with cool, cool piano from Paul Bley and cool. cool water from the Beach Boys... Indigo dreaming with Duke Ellington and tom-tom screaming with awesome rock improv from Kenny Grohowski on PAKT... Solo bass brain twisters from Peter Kowald and puzzle constructions from Ingrid Laubrock and Tomeka Reid on Myra Melford's For the Love of Fire and Water... Intriguing noise up and down the east coast, from north with the Flying Zamboni Brothers and south with more New Ting... Come on in, the listening's fine...

Playlist 2022-06-13:

*Beach Boys: Sunflower (side 2)
*Paul Bley: Paul Bley with Gary Peacock (side 2)
*Paul Bley/Evan Parker/Barre Phillips: Time Will Tell
*Paul Bley/Evan Parker/Barre Phillips: Sankt Gerold Variations
*Anthony Braxton: Willisau (Quartet) 1991 (disc 3) "Comp. 34A"
*Child of Illusion: Khimaira
*Sylvie Courvoisier/Mary Halvorson: Searching for the Disappeared Hour
*Kris Davis/Ingrid Laubrock/Tom Rainey: 2011-10-22 Cormons, Italy (CDR)
*Claude Debussy: La Mer & Images (Alexander Rahbari/BRT Philharmonic Orchestra)
*Duke Ellington: The Complete Ellington Indigos
*Gil Evans: The Individualism of Gil Evans
*Flying Zamboni Brothers: Space Between (streaming)
*Dexter Gordon: Our Man in Paris
*Herbie Hancock: My Point of View
*Julius Hemphill Quartet: 1980-06-16 Florence, Italy (discs 1, 2)
*Jimi Hendrix: Message from Nine to the Universe
*Andrew Hill: Mosaic Select (disc 1)
*Freddie Hubbard: Here to Stay
*Percy Jones/Alex Skolnick/Kenny Grohowski/Tim Motzer: PAKT (disc 1)
*King Crimson: Starless (disc 17)
*Peter Kowald: Was Da Ist
*Jacob Lindsay/Ava Mendoza/Damon Smith/Weasel Walter: Jus
*Myra Melford's Fire and Water Quintet: For the Love of Fire and Water
*Paul Motian: Conception Vessel (side 1)
*New Ting: 2022-05-31 "Left Time" (wav)
*New Ting: 2022-06-07 "Undergrowth" (wav)
*Mario Pavone Sextet: Deez to Blues
*Annette Peacock: An Acrobat's Heart
*Ricked Wicky: King Heavy Metal
*Archie Shepp: Mama Too Tight (side 1)
*Wayne Shorter Quartet: 2008-04-29 Châlons-en-Champagne, France (CDR)
*Wadada Leo Smith: The Great Lakes Suite (discs 1, 2)
*Sonic Youth: Battery Park, NYC: July 4, 2008
*Sparks: Angst in My Pants
*Stereolab: Cobra and Phases Group Play Voltage in the Milky Night (Expanded ed.) (discs 1, 2)
*Sun Ra: Space Probe - A Tonal View Of Times Tomorrow, Vol. 1
*Sun Ra: Calling Planet Earth (sides 1, 2)
*Sun Ra and His Astro-Ihnfinity Arkestra: Sun Embassy
*Cecil Taylor: Unit Structures "Unit Structure/As of a Now/Section"
*Cecil Taylor Workshop Ensemble: Melancholy
*Cecil Taylor Big Band: 1995-07-03 NYC (CDR) (disc 1)
*Various artists: No Filler: USHC 1978-1985 (CDR compilation)
*Various artists: Weird Nightmare: Meditations on Mingus
*Mary Lou Williams Trio: Free Spirits
*Neil Young: Oh Lonesome Me (CDR compilation)

 

Reading List, Week of 2022-06-12

 

Reading List 2022-06-13:

*Herbert, Frank. Dune (reread/started)
*Marías, Javier. The Infatuations (transl. Margaret Jull Costa) (finished)
*The Cambridge Companion to Nabokov (ed. Julian W. Connolly) (in progress)
*Winn, John C. Way Beyond Compare: The Beatles' Recorded Legacy, Vol. 1: 1957-1965 (in progress)

Playlist, Week of 2022-06-05

Catching up, always catching up.... Ikue Mori's One Hundred Aspects of the Moon is a dreamy capsulation of other worlds only just dreamt... gorgeous... More new New Ting: "Left Time".... The Cecil Taylor Big Band sessions at the Knitting Factory from 1995 are just stupendous... wish there were more details available about these audience recordings... The new Guided By Voices starts off strong and then kinda peters out... I'd forgotten how funky the Steve Coleman Five Elements band was... I love Wayne Shorter with Miles... yes, L-U-V love... but damn George Coleman sounded great with that band... I get a deep kick out of the Ellington arrangements of Beatles songs on Ellington '66... 

Playlist 2022-06-06:

*Milton Babbitt: Occasional Variations
*Beatles: Kicks, Kudos, and Cash: The Making of the Silver Beatals (bootleg CDR) (disc 4)
*Beatles: Help! (2009 stereo remaster) (sides 1, 2)
*Paul Bley: Open, To Love
*Boris: Pink
*Anthony Braxton: The Complete Arista Recordings Of Anthony Braxton (disc 3) "Comp. 76 (version 1)"
*Anthony Braxton: Composition 96
*Anthony Braxton: Quartet (Standards) 2020 (discs 1, 2) (streaming)
*Taylor Ho Bynum Sextet & 7-tette: Navigation (The Complete Firehouse 12 Recordings) (disc 4)
*Steve Coleman and Five Elements: The Opening of the Way
*John Coltrane: Live in Japan (disc 3) "Leo"
*Miles Davis: Seven Steps: The Complete Columbia Recordings of Miles Davis 1963-1964 (disc 3)
*De La Soul: 3 Feet High and Rising (20th Anniversary) (disc 1)
*Duke Ellington: Ellington '66 (side 1)
*Faust: Faust
*Faust: So Far
*Guided By Voices: Crystal Nuns Cathedral
*Herbie Hancock: Takin' Off
*King Crimson: Starless (disc 16)
*Peter Kowald: Was Da Ist
*Ingrid Laubrock: Dreamt Twice, Twice Dreamt (disc 2)
*Paul McCartney: Run Devil Run
*Minutemen: 3-Way Tie (For Last)
*Matt Mitchell/Kate Gentile: Snark Horse (disc 2)
*Roscoe Mitchell/Sandy Ewen/Damon Smith/Weasel Walter: A Railroad Spike Forms the Voice
*Hank Mobley: The Complete Hank Mobley Blue Note Sessions 1963-70 (disc 4)
*Thelonious Monk: Thelonious Monk
*Ikue Mori: One Hundred Aspects of the Moon
*Lee Morgan: Search for the New Land
*New Ting: 2022-05-31 "Left Time" (wav)
*Paradoxical Frog: 2011-06-10 NYC
*Evan Parker/Keith Rowe/Barry Guy/Eddie Prévost: Supersession
*Annette Peacock: An Acrobat's Heart
*Ivo Perelman/Matthew Shipp: Amalgam
*Ricked Wicky: I Sell the Circus
*Archie Shepp and the New York Contemporary Five: Archie Shepp and the New York Contemporary Five (Savoy)
*Tyshawn Sorey and Marilyn Crispell: The Adornment of Time
*Sparks: Gratuitous Sax & Senseless Violins (sides 1, 2)
*Sparks: Exotic Creatures of the Deep
*Sparks: Hippopotamus (sides 1, 2, 3, 4)
*Sparks: A Steady Drip, Drip, Drip (sides 1, 2, 4)
*Sun Ra: Ellingtonia, Vol. 1 (streaming)
*Cecil Taylor Workshop Ensemble: Melancholy

*Cecil Taylor Big Band: 1995-07-03 NYC (CDR) (disc 3)
*Anna Webber: Clockwise
*Frank Wright: Blues for Albert Ayler
*John Zorn: Bagatelles Vol. 3: Trigger
*John Zorn: Bagatelles Vol. 4: Ikue Mori

Reading List, Week of 2022-06-05

Not the cover I would have chosen, but whatever....

Reading List 2022-06-06:

*The Cambridge Companion to Nabokov (ed. Julian W. Connolly) (started)
*Marías, Javier. The Infatuations (transl. Margaret Jull Costa) (started)
*Bloom, Harold. “All's Well That Ends Well,” in Shakespeare: Invention of the Human (reread/started/finished)
*Garber, Marjorie. “All's Well That Ends Well,” in Shakespeare After All (reread/started/finished)
*Tanner, Tony. “All's Well That Ends Well,” in Prefaces to Shakespeare (reread/started/finished)
*Jenkins, Todd S. Free Jazz and Free Improvisation: An Encyclopedia (finished)
*Shakespeare, William. All's Well That Ends Well (Arden 3rd series, ed. Suzanne Gossett and Helen Wilcox) (reread/finished)
*Winn, John C. Way Beyond Compare: The Beatles' Recorded Legacy, Vol. 1: 1957-1965 (in progress)

Sun Ra: Ellingtonia Vol. 1 - A Quick Review

The Sun Ra Bandcamp site has just released an excellent new compilation focused on Duke Ellington covers. Those of you who follow my playlists will know that this kind of album is right up my alley, bringing together two of my top big-band composers/arrangers! And this set doesn't disappoint. Almost every selection is previously unreleased. I was familiar with less than half of them, and there are plenty of previously unknown gems here, including a top-notch sax solo from John Gilmore on "Drop Me Off in Harlem." The set starts off with a wonderful rendition of "Duke's Place," a duo from Ra and bassist Wilbur Ware from 1951. Yeah man! ("Duke's Place" is more properly known as "'C' Jam Blues"--it didn't get the name "Duke's Place" until it appeared in a version with vocals in 1958.) "Sophisticated Lady" is a feature for Ra's breezy organ work. "Mood Indigo" is given a more up-tempo swing setting than Duke typically gave it. Two home rehearsal recordings of unknown provenance are "Caravan" and "It Don't Mean a Thing"--these are especially interesting in that unlike most of the tunes here, they were rarely performed by the Arkestra. "East St. Louis Toodle-oo" boasts a great, slinky arrangement that captures the sinuosity of the 1920s originals. Notable for its absence is a version of "Take the 'A' Train"--here's hoping that means that there'll be a Volume 2.

Update: Review of Volume 2 here!