Playlist, Week of 2024-02-25

 

My Muhal Richard Abrams listening this week focused on the amazing run of albums he released on Black Saint in the 1980s and '90s, which will culminate next week with two of his big band masterpieces... the groundwork for those masterpieces was laid especially with Blues Forever and Rejoicing with the Light, in that both albums are stylistically all over the place, spanning the entire history of jazz while shining light on more obscure, unexplored territories... his piano playing is masterful and assured on these, but as usual he often steps out of the way and lets his arrangements and band members do the talking... when I was younger, I was drawn to the more swinging pieces like "Bloodlines" and "Blues Forever," but now (in my dotage, er, as my more mature and seasoned self) I am attracted to the more abstract tone poem pieces like "Cluster for Many Worlds" and "Blessed Be the Heavens at 12"... well, it's all amazing... 

Playlist 2024-02-26:

*AACM Great Black Music Ensemble: Umbria Jazz 2009, Perugia, Italy (CDR) (discs 6, 7)
*Muhal Richard Abrams: 1-OQA+19
*Muhal Richard Abrams: Spihumonesty
*Muhal Richard Abrams feat. Amina Claudine Myers: Duet (sides 1, 2)
*Muhal Richard Abrams: Spiral: Live at Montreux 1978
*Muhal Richard Abrams: Mama and Daddy (sides 1, 2)
*Muhal Richard Abrams: Blues Forever (sides 1, 2)
*Muhal Richard Abrams: Rejoicing with the Light (sides 1, 2)
*Muhal Richard Abrams Octet: View from Within
*Muhal Richard Abrams Octet: Colors in Thirty-Third
*André 3000: New Blue Sun
*Beach Boys: I Can Hear Music: The 20/20 Sessions (disc 2)
*Beatles: A Hard Day's Night (OST) (side 1)
*Beatles: 1962-1966 (2023 Edition) (side 2)
*Beatles: 1967-1970 (2023 Edition) (side 5)
*Anthony Braxton Ensemble: 1976-06-27 Carnegie Hall, NYC (CDR)
*Anthony Braxton: Quartet (FRM) 2007 (discs 3, 4)
*Circle: 1971-03 Bologna (CDR) (disc 2)
*Rodger Coleman and Sam Byrd: 2023-12-29 Nashville (rough mix wav)
*John Coltrane: The Prestige Recordings (disc 9)
*John Coltrane: Ascension (Edition II)
*John Coltrane: Meditations "Love/Consequences/Serenity"
*Miles Davis: Miles Davis at Carnegie Hall (side 1)
*DJ Shadow: Endtroducing.....
*Duke Ellington and His Orchestra: The Treasury Shows, Vol. 25 (discs 1, 2)
*Duke Ellington: The Bethlehem Years, Vol. 1 (side 2)
*Farmers By Nature: Love and Ghosts (disc 2) "Bisanz"
*Aretha Franklin: Two Sides of Love (sides 1, 2)
*George: Leave It
*Jimmy Giuffre 3: 1961 (disc 2)
*Grateful Dead: 1973-12-08 Durham NC (CDR) (disc 3) "The Other One"
*Grateful Dead: 1974-07-25 Chicago (CDR) "Dark Star"
*Grateful Dead: So Many Roads (1965–1995) (disc 2) "Dark Star Jam > Spanish Jam > U.S.Blues"
*Grateful Dead: 1983-10-12 NYC (CDR) (disc 1)
*Grant Green: Idle Moments
*Drew Gress: The Irrational Numbers
*Jimi Hendrix Experience: An Evening with the Jimi Hendrix Experience (disc 2)
*Dave Holland Prism: 2013-10-25 Umea, Sweden (CDR) (disc 1)197611
*Kinks: The Journey: Part 1 (sides 3, 4)
*Henry Mancini: Breakfast at Tiffany's (OST)
*Matt Mitchell: A Pouting Grimace
*Roscoe Mitchell: Nonaah (disc 2)
*Muffins: Secret Signals 3
*Annette Peacock: Sky-Skating
*Stephanie Richards: Fullmoon
*Sparks: Music That You Can Dance To (sides 1, 2)
*Cecil Taylor: Conquistador! "With (Exit)"
*Cecil Taylor Feel Trio: Two Ts for a Lovely T (disc 1)
*John Zorn Electric Masada: 2003-01-29 NYC (CDR)
*John Zorn: Bagatelles Vol. 8: John Medeski Trio
*John Zorn/Heaven and Earth Magick: 2023-09-23 San Francisco (CDR)

Reading List, Week of 2024-02-25

Reading List 2024-02-26:

*Garner, Dwight. The Upstairs Delicatessen (started)
*Ayala, Vita and Emily Peason. The Wilds (started/finished)
*Garber, Marjorie. “Merry Wives of Windsor” in Shakespeare After All (reread/started/finished)
*Shakespeare, William. Merry Wives of Windsor (Arden 2nd ed., ed. H.J. Oliver) (reread/finished)
*Cisco, Michael. Animal Money (in progress)
*Mendelson, Cheryl. Home Comforts: The Art and Science of Keeping House (in progress)
*Partridge, Andy. Popartery (in progress)

 

Playlist, Week of 2024-02-18

This week in my Muhal Richard Abrams explorations, I primarily focused on his appearances as a sideman, mostly with Anthony Braxton... the 1976 Carnegie Hall recording, one long suite listed by the Library of Congress as "Suite For Duke Ellington," consists of compositions I am not familiar with... Muhal excels on the Basel date, especially on "Comp. 69G"... in the Milan show, it's great to hear the band romp through several of the "40" series of Braxton compositions, especially since the original recorded versions don't have piano... On the Creative Construction Company recordings, Muhal is, as he so often is, self-effacing, definitely a team player... On Marion Brown's Sweet Earth Flying, he shares keyboard duties with Paul Bley, but they really don't get into each other's way... The Muhal-led quintet performance from 1978 in Holland features extended takes on two songs from the album 1-OQA+19, with everybody from that album except Braxton: Henry Threadgill and George Lewis fronting a powerhouse rhythm section of Muhal, Leonard Jones, and Steve McCall... 

Playlist 2024-02-19:

*Muhal Richard Abrams featuring Malachi Favors: Sightsong
*Muhal Richard Abrams: 1978 Laren, Holland (CDR)
*Muhal Richard Abrams: Mama and Daddy
*Beach Boys: Love You (side 2)
*Anthony Braxton: Creative Orchestra Music 1976 (side 1)
*Anthony Braxton Ensemble: 1976-06-27 Carnegie Hall, NYC (CDR)
*Anthony Braxton: Quintet (Basel) 1977
*Anthony Braxton Quintet: 1977-06-03 Milan (CDR)
*Marion Brown: Sweet Earth Flying
*Circle: 1971-03 Bologna (CDR) (disc 1)
*Rodger Coleman and Sam Byrd: 2023-12-29 Nashville (rough mix wav)
*Elvis Costello: My Aim Is True (side 1)
*Creative Construction Company: Creative Construction Company
*Creative Construction Company: Creative Construction Company Vol. II
*Miles Davis: Sketches of Spain
*Duke Ellington and His Orchestra: The Treasury Shows, Vol. 23 (disc 2)
*Firesign Theater: I Think We're All Bozos on This Bus (sides 1, 2)
*Grateful Dead: 1969-06-14 Monterey (CDR) "Dark Star"
*Grateful Dead: 1974-07-21 Hollywood (CDR) (discs 1, 2, 3)
*Fletcher Henderson: Swing 1929-1937
*Jimi Hendrix Experience: Electric Ladyland
*Booker Little: Out Front (side 1)
*Muffins: 1977 Washington DC (CDR)
*Pere Ubu: Live at the Longhorn April 1, 1978 (side 1)
*Pere Ubu: We Do What We Do
*Prince & the New Power Generation: Diamonds and Pearls (Super Deluxe Ed.) (disc 1)
*Tito Puente: The Complete 78s: Vol. 1 1949-55 (disc 2)
*Matana Roberts: Coin Coin Chapter Five: In the Garden (side 1)
*Sparks: Whomp That Sucker (side 1)
*Sun Ra: Crystal Spears (Remastered)
*Sun Ra and His Interplanetary Vocal Arkestra: The Space Age Is Here to Stay
*Art Tatum: The Art Tatum Solo Masterpieces Vol. 8
*Cecil Taylor: Respiration
*Cecil Taylor Unit: 1969-11-04 Copenhagen (youtube)
*Cecil Taylor: Silent Tongues (side 1)
*Cecil Taylor: 1999-04-21 Culver City, CA (CDR)
*Tower of Power: East Bay Grease (side 1)
*Trio What (Else): 2024-02-11 Richmond VA (mp3)
*June Tyson/Sun Ra: Saturnian Queen of the Sun Ra Arkestra (side 2)
*XTC: English Settlement (sides 3, 4)
*John Zorn: Bagatelles Vol. 7: Brian Marsella

Reading List, Week of 2024-02-18

Reading List 2024-02-19:

*Mendelson, Cheryl. Home Comforts: The Art and Science of Keeping House (started)
*Partridge, Andy. Popartery (started)
*Shakespeare, William. Merry Wives of Windsor (Arden 2nd ed., ed. H.J. Oliver) (reread/started)
*Hayman, David. The "Wake" in Transit (finished)
*Moore, Alan, J.H. Williams III, and Mick Gray. Promethea (20th Century Deluxe Ed.), Book 3 (finished)
*Cisco, Michael. Animal Money (in progress)

 

Playlist, Week of 2024-02-11

The 1977 Muhal Richard Abrams quintet gig is a wonderful audience recording from Ali's Alley in NYC, featuring Roscoe Mitchell, Henry Threadgill, Steve McCall, and Fred Hopkins...now there's a lineup!... as always, Muhal is generous with the solo space, so there's lots of stretching out here... I thank the music gods that I got to see McCall and Hopkins together with Arthur Blythe at the Vanguard... right place, right time... Spihumonesty is another great chamber jazz album from Muhal with knotty melodies that I can't quite wrap my head around... I love the uncertainty... Barry Altschul's You Can't Name Your Own Tune is a brilliant album with generous helpings of Muhal on piano, especially on "Cmbeh" (incidentally, a Muhal composition)... Ethan Iverson has a nice review of this album here... For some great ensemble keyboard playing that's not Muhal, check out Alexander Hawkins on Ingebrigt Håker Flaten and Paal Nilssen-Love's Guts & Skins: super-exciting...

Playlist 2024-02-12:

*AACM Great Black Music Ensemble: Umbria Jazz 2009, Perugia, Italy (CDR) (discs 2, 4)
*Muhal Richard Abrams: Lifea Blinec
*Muhal Richard Abrams: Spihumonesty (sides 1, 2)
*Muhal Richard Abrams Quintet: 1977-03-04 NYC (CDR) (discs 1, 2, 3)
*Barry Altschul: You Can't Name Your Own Tune
*Tim Berne's Snakeoil: The Deceptive 4 (Live) (disc 1) "Perception"
*Anthony Braxton: Nine Compositions (DVD) 2003 " (tracks 1-4, 6)
*Rodger Coleman and Andrew Dickson: 2016-12-14 Nashville (CDR)
*Rodger Coleman and Sam Byrd: 2023-12-29 Nashville (rough mix wav)
*John Coltrane: The Prestige Recordings (discs 7, 8)
*Wild Bill Davis/ Johnny Hodges: Con-Soul and Sax (side 2)
*Dimitriadis/Dörner/Freedman/Parkins/Williams: BeingFive
*Duke Ellington and His Orchestra: The Treasury Shows, Vol. 22 (disc 2)
*Duke Ellington and His Orchestra: The Treasury Shows, Vol. 23 (disc 1)
*Duke Ellington and His Orchestra: Masterpieces by Ellington (sides 1, 2, 3, 4)
*Duke Ellington and His Orchestra: Ellington Indigos (side 1)
*Duke Ellington and His Orchestra: Festival Session (side 2)
*Duke Ellington: Ellington '66 (side 1)
*Ensemble Dedalus & Erikm: Fata Morgana
*Farmers By Nature: Love and Ghosts (disc 2) "Bisanz"
*Aretha Franklin: Runnin' Out of Fools (sides 1, 2)
*Ingebrigt Håker Flaten/Paal Nilssen-Love: Guts & Skins
*Kate Gentile: Mannequins
*Grateful Dead: Dick's Picks 4 (1970-02-13 Fillmore East) (disc 2) "That's It for the Other One"
*Grateful Dead: 1970-09-19 Fillmore East NYC (CDR) "Dark Star"
*Dave Holland: Uncharted Territories (disc 2)
*Curtis Mayfield: There's No Place Like America Today
*Matt Mitchell/Kate Gentile: Snark Horse (disc 6)
*Nicole Mitchell's Sonic Projections: The Secret Escapades of Velvet Anderson
*Roscoe Mitchell: Sound Songs (disc 1)
*New Ting: 2024-01-29 "Here's Your Organ Donor" (wav)
*Sam & Dave: Hold On, I'm Comin' (side 1)
*Sun Ra And His Intergalactic Research Arkestra: Paradiso Amsterdam 1970 (side 2)
*Art Tatum: The Art Tatum Solo Masterpieces Vol. 7
*Cecil Taylor: Unit Structures (side 1)
*Cecil Tayor: Conquistador! "With (Exit)" (alternate take)
*Cecil Taylor: Algonquin
*Henry Threadgill 14 Or 15 Kestra AGG: Dirt... And More Dirt

Reading List, Week of 2024-02-11

Reading List 2024-02-12:

*Cisco, Michael. Animal Money (started)
*Moore, Alan, J.H. Williams III, and Mick Gray. Promethea (20th Century Deluxe Ed.), Book 3 (started)
*Moore, Alan, J.H. Williams III, and Mick Gray. Promethea (20th Century Deluxe Ed.), Book 2 (started/finished)
*Dederer, Claire. Monsters: A Fan's Dilemma (finished)
*Moore, Alan, J.H. Williams III, and Mick Gray. Promethea (20th Century Deluxe Ed.), Book 1 (finished)
*Shakespeare, William. King Henry V (Arden 3rd ed., ed. T.W. Craik) (reread/finished)
*Hayman, David. The "Wake" in Transit (in progress)

Playlist, Week of 2024-02-04

This week I have focused more on Muhal Richard Abram's work as a "sideman" (hard to think of him that way since he plays such a strong role on everything he guests on)... On Roscoe Mitchell's Live at "A Space" 1975, he contributes to the drummerless jazz chamber orchestra feel beautifully, with the kind of playing he had already exhibited on Anthony Braxton's first LP, 3 Compositions of New Jazz... I love Muhal's playing with the Art Ensemble of Chicago--he is not a guest; he is fully integrated into their sound and approach... On the live Kalabala he is agressive and energetic; on the studio Fanfare for the Warriors he is an integral part of the texture... Of his own albums, Lifea Blinec is one of my absolute favorites... the double piano lineup of Abrams and Amina Claudine Myers is killer... First session in 2024 for New Ting... nice to play again with a full contigent... 

*Muhal Richard Abrams: Lifea Blinec
*Muhal Richard Abrams: Spiral: Live at Montreux 1978
*AMM: Ammmusic "After Rapidly Circling the Plaza"
*Art Ensemble: 1967/68 (disc 1) "Quartet No. 1"
*Art Ensemble of Chicago: Kabalaba
*Art Ensemble of Chicago: Fanfare for the Warriors
*Béla Bartók: Concerto for Orchestra (Stokowski/Houston Symphony Orchestra) (sides 1, 2)
*Beatles: 1962-1966 (2023 Edition) (sides 4, 5)
*Beatles: 1967-1970 (2023 Edition) (side 5)
*Booker T & the MGs: Play the "Hip Hits"
*Anthony Braxton: 3 Compositions of New Jazz
*Anthony Braxton: Tentet (Wesleyan) 1999 (disc 2)
*Anthony Braxton: Quartet (FRM) 2007 (disc 2)
*Anthony Braxton: Sonic Genome (2019-10-31 Berlin) (CDR)
*Rodger Coleman and Sam Byrd: 2023-12-29 Nashville (rough mix wav)
*Colla Parte: 2010-09-19 Sonic Circuits, Fairfax VA (CDR)
*John Coltrane: Evenings at the Village Gate "Africa"
*Elvis Costello and the Attractions: Armed Forces (sides 1, 2)
*Duke Ellington and His Orchestra: The Treasury Shows, Vol. 22 (disc 1)
*Grateful Dead: Live/Dead
*Grateful Dead: Fillmore West 1969: The Complete Recordings (disc 7) "Dark Star"
*Grateful Dead: Dave's Picks Vol. 48 (1971-11-20 UCLA) (disc 2) "The Other One"
*Grateful Dead: 1972-05-10 Amsterdam (CDR) (disc 3) "The Other One"
*Grateful Dead: Road Trips Vol. 4 No. 3 (1973-12-06 Cleveland) (bonus disc) "Dark Star > Eyes of the World"
*Grateful Dead: 1974-07-25 Chicago (CDR) "Dark Star"
*Grateful Dead: Sunshine Daydream (Veneta, Oregon, August 27, 1972) (disc 2) "Playing in the Band"
*Jimi Hendrix Experience: Hollywood Bowl August 18, 1967
*Dave Holland: Uncharted Territories (disc 1)
*Joseph Jarman: As If It Were the Seasons
*Sharon Jones and the Dap-Kings: 2010-06-28 KCRW-FM, Santa Monica CA (CDR)
*Sharon Jones and the Dap-Kings: 2014-01-15 KCRW-FM, Santa Monica CA (CDR)
*Kinks: The Journey, Part 2 (sides 1, 2)
*George Lewis: Shadowgraph, 5 (Sextet)
*Minutemen: Introducing the Minutemen
*Grachan Moncur III: Some Other Stuff
*Garry Martin Project (CDR compilation) (discs 10, 11)
*Charles Mingus Sextet: 1961-10-21 Birdland, NYC (CDR)
*Roscoe Mitchell: Nonaah (disc 1)
*Roscoe Mitchell Quartet: Live at "A Space" 1975
*New Ting: 2024-01-29 "Here's Your Organ Donor" (wav)
*Original Silence: The Second Original Silence
*Annette Peacock: 31:31
*Matana Roberts: 2009-04-01 London (CDR)
*Matana Roberts: Coin Coin Chapter Three: River Run Thee (sides 1, 2)
*Terje Rypdal: Odyssey in Studio & in Concert (disc 1)
*Shirley Scott: Queen of the Organ
*Sharp/Lopez/Kaiser/Amendola: Minus X: A Tribute to the Music of Iannis Xenakis (disc 2)
*Sleepwalker: Skopofoboexoskelett
*Tamio Shiraishi: Sora
*Sun Ra and His Solar Arkestra: Secrets of the Sun (side 2)
*Sun Ra And His Intergalactic Research Arkestra: Paradiso Amsterdam 1970 (side 1)
*Supremes: Time Changes Things: The Best of the Rest 1961-67 (CDR compilation)
*Art Tatum: The Art Tatum Solo Masterpieces Vol. 6
*Cecil Taylor: Another Material Complex from Cecil Taylor's 1988-91 Music
*Cecil Taylor Feel Trio: Two Ts for a Lovely T (disc 8)
*Trio What (Else): 2024-01-28 Richmond VA (mp3)
*Various artists: 7 x 7
*John Zorn: Bagatelles Vol. 6: Brian Marsella Trio

Reading List, Week of 2024-02-04

Reading List 2024-02-05:

*Dederer, Claire. Monsters: A Fan's Dilemma (started)
*Moore, Alan, J.H. Williams III, and Mick Gray. Promethea (20th Century Deluxe Ed.), Book 1 (started)
*Harkaway, Nick. Angelmaker (finished)
*Hayman, David. The "Wake" in Transit (in progress)
*Shakespeare, William. King Henry V (Arden 3rd ed., ed. T.W. Craik) (reread/in progress)