Playlist, Week of 2025-02-23

It's instructive to think about the Duke Ellington/Charles Mingus/Max Roach trio LP Money Jungle in light of Relaxed Moods, the earlier Hazel Scott trio album from 1955. That album, included on the Mingus complete Debut recordings box set, has Mingus and Roach in a much more supporting role with pianist Hazel Scott... was she more compliant, or was Duke just more cantankerous?... I have always felt that Money Jungle was not able to overcome the apparent animosity and/or distractedness of its participants, making it a somewhat disappointing session, in spite of its deep beauty, and, well, players... but the Hazel Scott trio is quite nice, everyone cooperating and playing well together, but of course Hazel ain't Duke... well, who is?... still, she's really good, and this may be the more "successful" piano trio album, maybe because expectations aren't as high... For the most part, the two albums Duke Ellington recorded for Bethlehem in 1956 are way more interesting than anything he did in his short-lived stint with Capitol (with the exception of the piano trios)... for one thing, Paul Gonsalves doesn't solo nearly as much, or as gloriously, on anything for Capitol as he does on "Laura" from Duke Ellington Presents... for another, the Capitol sessions lack two key players, Johnny Hodges, who had just rejoined in time for the Bethlehem recordings, and Sam Woodyard, who makes his Ellington debut on the Bethlehem sessions... Woodyard was one of Ellington's greatest drummers, second in my mind only to Sonny Greer... Woodyard was a master of the shuffle, and his distinctive hard-driving swing helps define many of the Duke's later masterpieces... as Lambert puts it, "Woodyard was the last musician to come into the band who could make it sound different by his very presence" (p. 176)... 

Playlist 2025-02-24:

*Marshall Allen: New Dawn

*Beatles: Anthology 3 (disc 1) (selections)

*Blue Notes: Blue Notes for Mongezi (disc 1)

*Anthony Braxton: 3 Compositions of New Jazz (side 1)

*Anthony Braxton/Fred Simmons Trio: 9 Standards (Quartet) 1993 (disc 2)

*Circle: Gathering

*Clash: Combat Rock (sides 1, 2)

*Patsy Cline: The Patsy Cline Collection (disc 4)

*Rodger Coleman and Sam Byrd: 2009-07-23 Nashville (wav) track 3 "Moon Landing"

*John Coltrane: Coltrane (side 1)

*John Coltrane Quartet: Africa/Brass (side 1)

*Miles Davis Quintet: Workin’ with the Miles Davis Quintet (side 1)

*Miles Davis:  The Complete In a Silent Way Sessions (disc 1) "Two Faced"

*Death Ambient: Death Ambient

*Death Ambient: Synaesthesia

*Bob Dylan/Various artists: Theme Time Radio Hour S01 E21 "School"

*Bob Dylan/Various artists: Theme Time Radio Hour S01 E22 "Telephone"

*Duke Ellington: Giants of Jazz (sides 3, 4)

*Duke Ellington: Duke Ellington Presents Ivie Anderson (side 4)

*Duke Ellington: The Complete Capitol Recordings of Duke Ellington (disc 5)

*Duke Ellington: The Bethlehem Years, Vol. 1 (sides 1, 2)

*Duke Ellington: Duke Ellington Presents…

*Rosemary Clooney and Duke Ellington and His Orchestra: Blue Rose

*Jimmy Ghaphery: Fife Studies and Songs about Birds

*Grateful Dead: 1968-11-01 Chico CA (CDR)

*Grateful Dead: 1968-11-22 Columbus OH (CDR)

*Grateful Dead: 1968-12-07 Louisville KY (CDR) "Dark Star"

*Grateful Dead: 1968-12-29 Hallandale, FL (CDR)

*Grateful Dead: 1969-01-17 Santa Barbara CA (CDR) "Dark Star"

*Grateful Dead: The Complete Fillmore West 1969 (disc 1) "That's It for the Other One"

*Mickey Hart & the Hartbeats: 1968-10-30? San Francisco (CDR) "Dark Star Jam"

*Earl Hines: Giants of Jazz (disc 1)

*William Hooker/Chrstian Marclay/Lee Ranaldo: Bouquet

*Keith Jarrett: Expectations (side 4)

*Janel Leppin: Ensemble Volcanic Ash

*Charles Mingus: The Complete Debut Recordings (discs 7, 8)

*Charles Mingus: Let My Children Hear Music (side 1)

*Matt Mitchell: Zealous Angles

*Roscoe Mitchell: One Head Four People

*New Ting: 2025-01-20 "Swipe the Not Enough of Too Much" (wav)

*New Ting: 2025-02-18 "Just Under the Ground"  (wav)

*Zeena Parkins/Chris Brown/William Winant/Ben Davis: Scree

*Tom Rainey Trio: Hotel Grief "Proud Achievements In Botany"

*Secret People: Secret People

*Tyshawn Sorey: The Inner Spectrum of Variables (disc 2) "Reverie"

*Tyshawn Sorey:  Verisimilitude "Algid November"

*Sparks: Indiscreet (side 1)

*Sun Ra: The Futuristic Sounds of Sun Ra (side 2)

*Sun Ra and His Solar Arkestra: Secrets of the Sun "Flight to Mars"

*Cecil Taylor: Student Studies "Amplitude"

*Cecil Taylor: Garden (disc 2) "Garden 1 > Stepping on Stars"

*Cecil Taylor Orchestra Humane: 2004-03-23 NYC (CDR) (disc 2)

*Lennie Tristano: The Complete Atlantic Recordings of Lennie Tristano, Lee Konitz, & Warne Marsh (discs 5, 6)

*Various artists: Turn Me Loose White Man (discs 5, 6, 7)

*John Zorn/JACK Quartet: The Complete String Quartets (disc 1)

Reading List, Week of 2025-02-23

Reading List 2025-02-24:

*Harkaway, Nick. Karla's Choice (started)
*Williams, Tad. The Dragonbone Chair (finished)
*Lambert, Eddie. Duke Ellington: A Listener's Guide (reread/selections)
*Lowe, Allen. Turn Me Loose White Man, or, Appropriating Culture: How to Listen to American Music, 1900-1960, Vol. 2 (in progress)
*Mendelson, Cheryl. Home Comforts: The Art and Science of Keeping House (in progress)
*Paré, Alix, and Valérie Sueur-Hermel. The Fantastic Gustave Doré (in progress)
*Young, Marguerite. Miss MacIntosh, My Darling (reread/in progress)

Playlist, Week of 2025-02-16

Kris Davis's rhythmic impulse and impeccable sense of timing is on full display on Rob Mazurek's Desert Encrypt Vol. 1... plus some of Mazurek's best playing... Two interesting things to note about the "Dark Star"-related jams by Mickey Hart & the Hartbeats in 1968: they are all effectively guitar-bass duets (whether it's Phil Lesh or Jack Casady on bass), and these jams are the first time, however sparingly, that someone (probably Bill Kreutzmann) plays full drum kit in the song... before, with the Dead, and with most of the Hartbeats versions, the percussion accompaniment up to this time was mostly shaker, gong, and guiro... A month's worth of new improvisations from New Ting here... it's good to be playing again... plus, a new solo release from Jimmy Ghaphery: Fife Studies...

Playlist 2025-02-17:

*Johann Sebastian Bach: Violin Concertos (Alina Ibragimova/BBC Scottish Symphony Orchestra)
*Johann Christian Bach: Six Favorite Overtures (Christopher Hogwood/Academy of Ancient Music)
*Beatles: The Beatles' Second Album (mono 2024) (sides 1, 2)
*Beatles: Something New (mono 2024) (sides 1, 2)
*Black Host: Life in the Sugar Candle Mines
*Anthony Braxton: Composition 95 (For Two Pianos)
*Anthony Braxton: 2 Compositions (Ensemble) 1989/1991
*Anthony Braxton/Fred Simmons Trio: 9 Standards (Quartet) 1993 (disc 1)
*Patricia Brennan Septet: Breaking Stretch
*Dustin Carlson: Air Ceremony
*Patsy Cline: The Patsy Cline Collection (disc 3)
*John Coltrane: The Mastery of John Coltrane, Vol. IV: "Trane's Modes" (side 3)
*Miles Davis: 1969-05/06? Village Gate, NYC (CDR)
*Miles Davis: Black Beauty: Miles Davis at Fillmore West (side 2)
*J Dilla: Donuts
*Nick Dunston: Colla Voce
*Duke Ellington: 1949 NYC "The Tattooed Bride"
*Duke Ellington: The Complete Capitol Recordings of Duke Ellington (discs 2, 3, 4)
*Kate Gentile: Find Letter X (disc 1)
*George: Letters to George (side 2)
*Grateful Dead: 1968-09-02 Sultan WA (CDR) "Dark Star"
*Grateful Dead: 1968-10-12 San Francisco (CDR) "Dark Star > St. Stephen > The Eleven"
*Grateful Dead: 1968-10-13 San Francisco (CDR) "Dark Star"
*Grateful Dead: Sunshine Daydream (Veneta, Oregon 8/27/72) (disc 2) "Playing in the Band"
*Mary Halvorson: Cloudward
*Mickey Hart & the Hartbeats: 1968-10-08 San Francisco (CDR) "Dark Star"
*Mickey Hart & the Hartbeats: 1968-10-10 San Francisco (CDR) "Dark Star Jam"
*Mickey Hart & the Hartbeats: 1968-10-30 San Francisco (CDR) "Dark Star Jam"
*Henry Cow: In Praise of Learning (Cow Box Redux)
*Allen Lowe and the Constant Sorrow Orchestra: Louis Armstrong's America, Vol. 2 (disc 1)
*Rob Mazurek: Desert Encrypts Vol. 1
*Charles Mingus: The Complete Debut Recordings (discs 5, 6)
*Roscoe Mitchell/Nicole Mitchell's Black Earth Ensemble: Three Compositions "Quintet #9 for Eleven"
*Ikue Mori: One Hundred Aspects of the Moon
*New Ting: 2025-02-10 "Farberware" (wav)
*Opeth: The Last Will and Testament
*Plymouth: Plymouth "Manomet"
*Matana Roberts: Coin Coin Chapter Five: In the Garden (sides 1, 2)
*Santana: Lotus (side 1)
*Devadip Carlos Santana/Turiya Alice Coltrane: Illuminations
*Soft Machine: Høvikodden 1971 (disc 2)
*Sun Ra: Saturn Research: Rarities and Oddities (CDR compilation) (disc 2)
*Sun Ra and His Arkestra: Music from Tomorrow's World
*Sun Ra: The Futuristic Sounds of Sun Ra (side 1)
*Sun Ra: Astro Black (side 2)
*Sun Ra: At the Showcase: Live in Chicago 1976-1977 (disc 1)
*Sun Ra: Lanquidity (45rpm version) (sides 1, 2)
*Joe Tex: From the Roots… …Came the Rapper
*McCoy Tyner/Joe Henderson: Forces of Nature: Live at Slugs' (disc 2)
*UYA: 1993-03-02 And the Fritos? Sure (wav)
*UYA: 1993-07-17 Dik-Plexiglass Ass 95 Remix (side A) (wav)
*Various artists: Turn Me Loose White Man (disc 4)
*Various artists: Hallucinations: Psychedelic Pop Nuggets from the WEA Vaults
*Weird of Mouth: Weird of Mouth
*Mary Lou Williams Trio: Free Spirits
*Tony Williams Lifetime: (Turn It Over) (side 1)
*Yes: Yesterdays (side 2) "America"
*Lester Young: The Aladdin Sessions (side 3)

Reading List, Week of 2025-02-16

Reading List 2025-02-17:

*Lowe, Allen. Turn Me Loose White Man, or, Appropriating Culture: How to Listen to American Music, 1900-1960, Vol. 2 (started)
*Paré, Alix, and Valérie Sueur-Hermel. The Fantastic Gustave Doré (started)
*Williams, Tad. The Dragonbone Chair (started)
*Ditko, Steve, and Stan Lee. The Amazing Spider-Man Masterworks, Vol. 1 (reread/started/finished)
*Lowe, Allen. Turn Me Loose White Man, or, Appropriating Culture: How to Listen to American Music, 1900-1960, Vol. 1 (finished)
*Lambert, Eddie. Duke Ellington: A Listener's Guide (reread/selections)
*Mendelson, Cheryl. Home Comforts: The Art and Science of Keeping House (in progress)
*Young, Marguerite. Miss MacIntosh, My Darling (reread/in progress)

Playlist, Week of 2025-02-09

 

So, I have embarked on a listening run though of every "Dark Star" I can get my hands on... they may not all show up in the playlist, but they're getting heard, and it's already fascinating how the band expanded the tune from its humble (and fast-paced) beginning on the single, exploding it from the inside out as sections grow and morph, and it gets longer and longer... I am not tired of Pigpen's organ riff yet, and of course the Jerry/Phil interplay is outstanding... I am also reworking my way through Eddie Lambert's excellent book Duke Ellington: A Listener's Guide and listening to more Duke, especially the later suites (while skipping over Jimmy Grissom)... Really been enjoying the new Allen Lowe sets... some fine piano playing, especially from Loren Schoenberg, plus avant-garde banjo!... RIP Mike Ratledge... so glad I got to see him with Soft Machine on the tour backing Jimi Hendrix...

Playlist 2025-02-10:

*[Ahmed]: Giant Beauty (disc 5)
*Art Ensemble: 1967/68 (disc 2) "Trio (Oh Susanna)"
*Blue Notes: Legacy: Live in South Afrika 1964
*Borderlands Trio: Asteroidea
*Anthony Braxton: Ninetet (Yoshi's) 1997, Vol. 4 (discs 1, 2)
*Peter Brötzmann Octet: The Complete Machine Gun Sessions "Machine Gun"
*James Brown: The CD of JB (Sex Machine & Other Soul Classics)
*Patsy Cline: The Patsy Cline Collection (disc 2)
*Miles Davis Quintet: Miles in France 1963 & 1964: The Bootleg Series, Vol. 8 (discs 4, 5, 6)
*Duke Ellington: Ellington Uptown
*Duke Ellington: The Complete Capitol Recordings of Duke Ellington (disc 1)
*Duke Ellington: The Great Paris Concert (disc 2) "A Tone Parallel to Harlem (Harlem Suite)"
*Erroll Garner: Erroll Garner
*George: Letters to George (side 1)
*Grateful Dead: So Many Roads (1965–1995) (disc 1)
*Grateful Dead: Dark Star Comp 1 (1967-1969) (CDR compilation)
*Grateful Dead: 1968-01-20 Eureka CA (CDR)
*Grateful Dead: 1968-02-03 Portland OR (CDR)
*Grateful Dead: Road Trips Vol. 2 No. 2 (1968) (disc 1)
*Grateful Dead: 1968-03-29 San Francisco (CDR)
*Grateful Dead: 1968-08-22 San Francisco (CDR) "Dark Star > Cryptical Envelopment/The Other One"
*Grateful Dead: 1968-08-23 San Francisco (CDR) "Dark Star > St. Stephen > The Eleven"
*Grateful Dead: Dick's Jams (CDR) (disc 2)

*Grateful Dead: Road Trips Vol. 4 No. 3 (1973-12-06 Cleveland) (bonus disc) "Eyes of the World"
*Layers of Memory: 2019-12-07 RVA (wav)"Improvisation No. 4"
*Allen Lowe and the Constant Sorrow Orchestra: Louis Armstrong's America, Vol. 1 (disc 2)
*Charles Mingus: The Complete Debut Recordings (disc 4)
*Roscoe Mitchell: Songs in the Wind
*Roscoe Mitchell: 2012-03-10 London (CDR)
*New Ting: 2025-01-20 "Swipe the Not Enough of Too Much" (wav)
*New Ting: 2025-02-03 "Sound Immersion Plan" (wav)
*Ivo Perelman Quartet: Water Music
*Dudu Pukwana: Diamond Express (side 1)
*Soft Machine: Seven
*Tyshawn Sorey: Alloy "Movement"
*Cecil Taylor Orchestra of Two Continents: 1984-10-20 Rubigen, Switzerland (CDR) (disc 2)
*Cecil Taylor Feel Trio: Two Ts for a Lovely T (disc 5)
*Henry Threadgill: X-75 Vol. 1 (Expanded Version)
*Henry Threadgill's Zooid: Pop Start the Tape, StoP
*Henry Threadgill's Zooid: This Brings Us To, Volumes I & II (side 2)
*Lennie Tristano: The Complete Atlantic Recordings of Lennie Tristano, Lee Konitz, & Warne Marsh (discs 3, 4)
*UYA: 1993-02-23 G, J, and Q (wav)
*Various artists: Turn Me Loose White Man (disc 3)
*John Zorn/Brian Marsella Trio: Ballades

Reading List, Week of 2025-02-09

Reading List 2025-02-10:

*Lambert, Eddie. Duke Ellington: A Listener's Guide (reread/selections)
*Lowe, Allen. Turn Me Loose White Man, or, Appropriating Culture: How to Listen to American Music, 1900-1960, Vol. 1 (in progress)
*Mendelson, Cheryl. Home Comforts: The Art and Science of Keeping House (in progress)
*Young, Marguerite. Miss MacIntosh, My Darling (reread/in progress)

 

Playlist, Week of 2025-02-02

Maintaining this blog (and these lists) is starting to feel more and more like fiddling while Rome burns, but for now I am gonna keep going... I have really taken to Brian Wilson's At My Piano, so much more than when I first heard it... speaking of Brian Wilson, Gardner Campbell has two excellent radio specials on Wilson here... he does a great job giving overviews of Wilson's "spiritual odyssey" and his work in the studio... John Zorn's sax playing keeps getting better and better... at times his blistering alto work on New Masada Quartet Vol. 3 is like he's channeling Marshall Allen... Superb George Coleman sax work on the latest Miles Davis box... not to mention the rest of the band!... 

Playlist 2025-02-03:

*[Ahmed]: Giant Beauty (discs 3, 4)

*Area: Crac! (side 2)

*Beach Boys: Friends

*Beatles: Sgt. Peppers Lonely Heart Club Band (Anniversary Ed.) (disc 1)

*Blood Incantation: Absolute Elsewhere

*Blood Sweat & Tears: B, S & T; 4

*Anthony Braxton: Ninetet (Yoshi's) 1997, Vol. 3 (disc 2)

*James Brown: Hot Pants (side 1)

*Gardner Campbell: The Epic Journey of Brian Wilson (podcast)

*Gardner Campbell: In the Studio with Brian Wilson (podcast)

*Chicago: Chicago Transit Authority

*Miles Davis Quintet: Miles in France 1963 & 1964: The Bootleg Series, Vol. 8 (discs 2, 3)

*Miles Davis Quintet: Live in Europe 1967: The Bootleg Series Vol. 1 (disc 2)

*De La Soul: De La Soul Is Dead

*Bob Dylan: Planet Waves

*Bob Dylan/Various artists: Theme Time Radio Hour S01 E20 "Musical Map"

*Duke Ellington and His Orchestra: The Treasury Shows, Vol. 10 (disc 2)

*Duke Ellington: The Great Concerts: Cornell University 1948 (disc 1)

*Duke Ellington and His Orchestra: Masterpieces by Ellington (sides 1, 2, 4)

*Stan Getz: The Complete Roost Recordings (disc 3)

*Grateful Dead: 1968-01-20 Eureka CA (CDR) "Spanish Jam > Caution (Do Not Stop on Tracks) > Dark Star"

*Grateful Dead: Dark Star Comp 6 (1991) (CDR compilation)

*Grateful Dead: Dark Star Comp 7 (1991) (CDR compilation)

*Grateful Dead: Dark Star Comp 8 (1991-1992) (CDR compilation)

*Grateful Dead: Dark Star Comp 9 (1992-1994) (CDR compilation)

*Mary Halvorson: Amaryllis

*Joseph Holbrooke Trio: The Moat Studio Recordings (disc 2)

*Ty Karim: The Complete Ty Karim: Los Angeles' Soul Goddess

*Allen Lowe and the Constant Sorrow Orchestra: Louis Armstrong's America, Vol. 1 (disc 1)

*Brian Marsella’s iMAGiNARiUM: Mediatas (disc 3)

*Roscoe Mitchell: Solo [3] (discs 2, 3)

*Mothers of Invention: Burnt Weeny Sandwich (side 1)

*New Ting: 2025-01-20 "Swipe the Not Enough of Too Much" (wav)

*New Ting: 2025-01-27 "Less Opaque" (wav)

*Elvis Presley: The Complete '68 Comeback Special (disc 1)

*Red Trio/John Butcher: Summer Skyshift

*Matthew Shipp Trio: New Concepts in Piano Trio Jazz

*Wadada Leo Smith/Peter Kowald/Bobby Naughton: 1981-10-07 RAW, Richmond VA (CDR) track 01

*Wadada Leo Smith & Roscoe Mitchell Creative Orchestra: 1979-06-03 Moers "track 3"

*Soft Machine: 5 (side 2)

*Bruce Springsteen: Winterland, 1978 (Live In The Promised Land) (selections)

*Bruce Springsteen & the E Street Band: Live/1975-85 (side 3)

*Sun Ra and His Arkestra: Jazz in Silhouette (Expanded Edition) (sides 1, 4)

*Sun Ra and His Solar Arkestra: Secrets of the Sun (side 1)

*Sun Ra and His Arkestra: Omniverse (side 2)

*Cecil Taylor: In Florescence

*Cecil Taylor Orchestra Humane (Ubuntu): 2005-12-18 (CDR) (disc 2)

*Lennie Tristano: The Complete Atlantic Recordings of Lennie Tristano, Lee Konitz, & Warne Marsh (disc 2)

*McCoy Tyner: The Real McCoy (side 1)

*Various artists: That Devilin' Tune (Vol. I, disc 6)

*Various artists: Turn Me Loose White Man (discs 1, 2)

*Weather Report: Live in Tokyo (side 2)

*Brian Wilson: At My Piano

*Yes: Tales from Topographic Oceans (2016 remaster) (disc 2) "Ritual"

*Neil Young & Crazy Horse: Rust Never Sleeps

*Frank Zappa: Orchestral Favorites (side 2)

*John Zorn: New Masada Quartet Vol. 3

Reading List, Week of 2025-02-02

Reading List 2025-02-03:

*Lowe, Allen. Turn Me Loose White Man, or, Appropriating Culture: How to Listen to American Music, 1900-1960, Vol. 1 (started)
*Buxton, Kira Jane. Hollow Kingdom (finished)
*Mueller, Darren. At the Vanguard of Vinyl: A Cultural History of the Long-Playing Record in Jazz (finished)
*Lambert, Eddie. Duke Ellington: A Listener's Guide (reread/selections)
*Mendelson, Cheryl. Home Comforts: The Art and Science of Keeping House (in progress)
*Young, Marguerite. Miss MacIntosh, My Darling (reread/in progress)