Playlist, Week of 2025-04-06

 

All praise to Matana Roberts and her Coin Coin project.... this just keeps growing in stature in my mind the more I listen to it.. my current favorite is Vol. 2, Mississippi Moonchile... the husky baritone voice of Jeremiah Abiah, the sweet saxophone lines, the perfect drumming of Tomas Fujiwara, the thorny embellishments on piano from Shoko Nagai, all woven together in a moving and grooving testament to the spirit and endurance of the women portrayed...and Matana Robert's voice is perfect for this, in both narrating and singing... Thanks to Daniel Barbiero for alerting me to the best version of "Seastones" (London 1974) in his overview of the piece... "Dark Star" continues to morph, but I gotta say: I'm waiting for Mickey to leave... the guiro's not doing it for me...

Playlist 2025-04-07:

*Muhal Richard Abrams: Young at Heart/Wise in Time (side 1)
*[Ahmed]: Wood Blues
*[Ahmed]: Giant Beauty (disc 3)
*Air: Air Song
*Air: Live Air
*Louis Armstrong: Portrait of the Artist as a Young Man 1923-1934 (disc 4)
*Art Ensemble of Chicago: 1975-09-09 Five Spot, NYC (CDR) (discs 2, 3)
*Art Ensemble of Chicago: 1975-09-11 Five Spot, NYC (CDR) (disc 1)
*Beach Boys: Love You
*John Blum Quartet feat. Marshall Allen: Deep Space
*Anthony Braxton: Ninetet (Yoshi's) 1997, Vol. 4 (disc 2)
*Kim Cass: Levs
*Clear Frame: Clear Frame
*Gerald Cleaver & Violet Hour: Live At Firehouse 12
*Patsy Cline: Live at the Cimarron Ballroom
*Kris Davis Trio: Run the Gauntlet
*Bob Dylan: The Bootleg Series Vol. 1-3 (disc 3)
*Bob Dylan/Various artists: Theme Time Radio Hour S01 E30 "Thanksgiving Leftovers"
*Duke Ellington and His Orchestra: The Treasury Shows, Vol. 11 (disc 2)
*Duke Ellington and His Orchestra: Masterpieces by Ellington (side 1)
*Duke Ellington: Anatomy of a Murder
*Duke Ellington: Les Girls! The Girls Suite & Toot Suite Premieres (1958-1963)
*Duke Ellington and His Award Winners: Blues in Orbit (sides 1, 2)
*Duke Ellington and His Orchestra: Concert in the Virgin Islands (side 1)
*Exploding Star Orchestra: Stars Have Shapes
*Grateful Dead: 1969-04-13 Boulder CO (CDR) "Dark Star"
*Grateful Dead: 1969-04-15 Omaha NE (CDR) "Dark Star"
*Grateful Dead: 1969-04-17 St. Louis (Download Series Vol. 12) "Dark Star"
*Grateful Dead: 1969-04-20 Worcester MA (CDR) "Dark Star"
*Grateful Dead: 1974-09-11 London (CDR) "Seastones"
*Happy the Man: "Better Late…" (side 1)
*Andrew Hill Sextet Plus 10: A Beautiful Day, Revisited (disc 1)
*Earl Hines: Giants of Jazz (disc 2)
*Billie Holiday: The Complete Billie Holiday on Verve 1945-1959 (disc 2)
*Damon Locks Black Monument Ensemble: NOW
*London Brew: London Brew (disc 1)
*Jimmie Lunceford: The Complete Jimmie Lunceford Decca Sessions (disc 7)
*John McLaughlin: Where Fortune Smiles
*Sergio Mendes: Quiet Nights
*Matt Mitchell: Phalanx Ambassadors
*Roscoe Mitchell Sound Ensemble: Live in Detroit (side 3)
*Hank Mobley: The Complete Blue Note Hank Mobley Fifties Sessions (disc 1)
*Louis Moholo Moholo Quartet: 4 Blokes
*Ikeu Mori: In Light of Shadows
*David Murray Octet: Picasso
*OOIOO: Nijimusi
*Paradoxical Frog: Union
*Charlie Parker/Dizzy Gillespie: Bird and Diz
*Charlie Parker: The Complete Legendary Rockland Palace Concert 1952 (disc 1)
*Charlie Parker: Live Bird Is the Best Bird (CDR compilation) (discs 1, 2)
*Zeena Parkins/Ikue Mori: Phantom Orchard
*Annette Peacock: An Acrobat's Heart
*Jean-Luc Ponty: Imaginary Voyage (sides 1, 2)
*Jean-Luc Ponty: Enigmatic Ocean (sides 1, 2)
*Bobby Previte/Jamie Saft/Nels Cline: Music from the Early 21st Century
*Flora Purim: Everyday Everynight
*Sergei Rachmaninov: Piano Concerto No. 2 (Lang Lang)
*Matana Roberts: Coin Coin Chapter Two: Mississippi Moonchile
*Matana Roberts: Coin Coin Chapter Three: River Run Thee (side 1)
*Sly and the Family Stone: The Essential Sly & the Family Stone (disc 1)
*Sly and the Family Stone: Dance to the Music
*Sly and the Family Stone: The Woodstock Experience (disc 2)
*Sun Ra and His Arkestra: Jazz in Silhouette (Expanded Edition) (side 3)
*Sun Ra: Uncharted Passages
*Sun Ra: Solo Works (CDR compilation)
*Cecil Taylor: In Transition [Jazz Advance] (side 1)
*Tower of Power: 1978-06-04 Much More, Richmond VA (cassette)
*McCoy Tyner/Joe Henderson: Forces of Nature: Live at Slugs' (disc 2)
*UYA: 1993-10-14 Betty! The Butter! (wav)
*Vandermark 5: Beat Reader
*Various artists: That Devilin' Tune: A Jazz History (1895-1927) (Vol. I, disc 9)
*Various artists: Anthology of Noise and Electronic Music vol. 2: Second a-chronology 1936-2003 (disc 1)
*Ben Webster: Ballads (side 1)
*Frank Zappa: Apostrophe (50th Anniversary Ed.) (disc 1)
*Frank Zappa: Nostalgia (boot CDR)

Reading List, Week of 2025-04-06

Reading List 2025-04-07:

*Eco, Umberto, and Jean-Claude Carrière. This Is Not the End of the Book (transl. Polly McLean) (started)
*Williams, Tad. The Witchwood Crown (started)
*Moore, Alan. Writing for Comics (started/finished)
*Threadgill, Henry, and Brent Hayes Edwards. Easily Slip into Another World (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)

The Magic Jukebox: Non-Breakable Fun

It's about that time again: time for another installment of a recent Magic Jukebox shuffled playlist! It's been about a year and a half since the last one... 

1. Prince - All the Critics Love U in Montreux
2. Jill Jones - G-Spot (extended version)
3. Johnny Winter - I Hate Everybody
4. Stock, Hausen, & Walkman - 0898
5. Charlie Parker - Cheers
6. Duke Ellington - Happy Anatomy
7. Kelley Stoltz - Underwater's Where the Action Is
8. Frank Zappa - Dense Slight
9. Duke Ellington - Sweet & Pungent
10. Rolling Stones - 2,000 Light Year from Home
11. Tower of Power - This Time It's Real
12. Supremes - I Hear a Symphony
13. Hank Williams - A House Without Love
14. Chuck Brown & the Soul Searchers - It Don't Mean a Thing
15. Sonic Youth - The Sprawl
16. Olivia Tremor Control - Mystery
17. Beatles - Roll Over Beethoven
18. Beck - Minus
19. Tito Puente - Witch Doctor's Nightmare
20. Parliament - Let's Play House
21. Willie Hobbs - (Please) Don't Let Me Down
22. Sparks - Change
23. Mary Wells - (Hey You) Set My Soul on Fire
24. James Brown - Oh Baby Don't You Weep
25. Mary Wells - I'll Be Available
26. Frank Zappa - Dog Breath
27. Sly & the Family Stone - Love City
28. Beach Boys - The Girl from New York City
29. Link Wray & the Wraymen - Raw-Hide
30. Elvis Costello & the Attractions - Almost Blue
31. Sparks - Please Baby Please
32. Jackie Wilson - Singing a Song
33. Duke Ellington - Ko-Ko
34. John Zorn/Insurrection - The Recognitions
35. Isley Brothers - I Must Be Losing My Touch
36. Roscoe Mitchell Quintet - For Cynthia
37. Duke Ellington - Happy as the Day Is Long
38. Prince - Illusion, Coma, Pimp, & Circumstance
39. Ruby Johnson - I'd Better Check on Myself
40. Public Enemy - Fight the Power
41. Simulacrum - Scene 3: And to the Brimstone, Fire
42. Paul McCartney - Honey Hush
43. Parliament - The Goose
44. Beach Boys - Little Pad (A Cappella)
45. Captain Beefheart - Floppy Boot Stomp
46. Duke Ellington - Tutti for Cootie (live Paris)
47. Rodger Coleman/Sam Byrd - Nine Thirds
48. Sun Ra - Easy to Love
49. Elvis Presley - Lawdy, Miss Clawdy
50. King Crimson - Larks' Tongues in Aspic (Pt. II) (live Texas)
51. Andrew Hill - Sideways
52. Little Richard - Ready Teddy
53. Rolling Stones - 19th Nervous Breakdown (alt take)
54. Bob Marley - Mr. Talkative
55. Beatles - Eleanor Rigby
56. Beatles - Baby It's You (BBC)
57. Sun Ra - I Struck a Match on the Moon
58. Bo Carter - Please Warm My Weiner
59. Duke Ellington - Midriff (Bethlehem)
60. Minutemen - Search

61. Sun Ra - Piano Interlude

62. Santana - La Fuente Del Ritmo
63. Opeth - The Devil's Orchard
64. Eddie Holman - This Can't Be True
65. Easy Lovin' (Star Search Demo)
66. Wig Drop - Looking with My Eyes
67. Duke Ellington - Madness in Great Ones
68. Beatles - No Reply
69. Clyde McPhatter/Drifters - Money Honey
70. Guided By Voices - Skin Parade
71. High Llamas - Almond Return
72. Duke Ellington - Sonnet to Hank Cinq
73. Jelly Roll Morton & His Red Hot Peppers - Oil Well
74. Sam Cooke - That's Where It's At
75. Beach Boys - Forever (A Capella)
76. Paul McCartney - Run Devil Run
77. Fred Astaire - Shall We Dance?
78. King Crimson - Larks' Tongues in Aspic (Pt. IV) (live Paris)
79. Jefferson Pilot - USB 3
80. Lewis Taylor - When Will I Ever Learn 2
81. Johnny Daye - I Need Somebody
82. Pavement - Cream of Gold
83. Animal Collective - Bluish
84. Beach Boys - Sail Plane Song
85. Duke Ellington - Madame Will Drop Her Shawl
86. Lesley Gore - You Don't Own Me
87. Beatles - I'll Get You
88. Thinking Plague - Behold the Man
89. Major Organ and the Adding Machine - Barry's Lung
90. Bob Brady & the Con Chords - Everybody's Going to the Love-In
91. Gang of Four - The Republic
92. Portuguese Joe - Teenage Riot
93. Jimi Hendrix - All Along the Watchtower
94. Duke Ellington - Me and You
95. Art Ensemble of Chicago - Till Autumn
96. Beatles Remixers Group - Noticed I Was Late
97. Elvis Presley - Just Because
98. Turbans - When You Dance
99. Billy J. Kramer & the Dakotas - Bad to Me
100. Opeth - The Lines in My Hand

Playlist, Week of 2025-03-30

I have almost all the stuff in the 4-CD Louis Armstrong box set Portrait of the Artist as a Young Man: 1923-1934 on other discs, but it's been a real treat to spend some deep listening time with the box... the music, of course, is fantastic... the selection is solid, and the annotations by Dan Morgenstern and Loren Schoenberg are brilliant... it's always a joy when Armstrong pops up on the Magic Jukebox, but it was a great weekend being immersed in this music... I have a slew of live Art Ensemble of Chicago I'll be working my way through, in addition to my ongoing Duke Ellington, Sun Ra, and Grateful Dead forays... Speaking of Ellington, I am loving Anatomy of a Murder madly... I rewatched the movie, and the music really adds extra spice... plus we get to see Duke himself playing a duet with Jimmy Stewart... 

Playlist 2025-03-31:

*Marshall Allen: New Dawn

*Louis Armstrong: Portrait of the Artist as a Young Man 1923-1934 (discs 1, 2, 3)

*Louis Armstrong and His All-Stars: Satch Plays Fats

*Art Ensemble of Chicago: 1974-11-16 Tokyo (CDR)

*Art Ensemble of Chicago: 1975-09-09 Five Spot, NYC (CDR) (disc 1)

*Blue Notes: Blue Notes for Johnny

*Anthony Braxton: Ninetet (Yoshi's) 1997, Vol. 4 (disc 1)

*Anthony Braxton Quartet: Standards (Brussels) 2006 (discs 4, 5, 6)

*John Butcher/John Edwards/Mark Sanders: Last Dream of the Morning

*Dustin Carlson: Air Ceremony

*John Coltrane: A Love Supreme (deluxe ed.) (disc 2) "Pursuance"

*John Coltrane: Live in Seattle "Out of This World"

*Miles Davis: 1972-10-01 Palo Alto, CA (CDR)

*Bob Dylan: The Bootleg Series Vol. 1-3 (disc 2)

*Bob Dylan/Various artists: Theme Time Radio Hour S01 E27 "Dance"

*Bob Dylan/Various artists: Theme Time Radio Hour S01 E28 "Sleep"

*Bob Dylan/Various artists: Theme Time Radio Hour S01 E29 "Food"

*Silke Eberhard/Céline Voccia: Wild Knots

*Duke Ellington and His Orchestra: A Drum Is a Woman

*Duke Ellington: Happy Reunion

*Duke Ellington: 1899-1974 (sides 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10)

*Duke Ellington and His Orchestra: Newport 1958 "Princess Blue"

*Duke Ellington: Anatomy of a Murder

*Duke Ellington and His Orchestra: Festival Session (sides 1, 2)

*Ingebrigt Håker Flaten/Paal Nilssen-Love: Guts & Skins

*Grateful Dead: 1969-04-04 San Francisco (CDR) "Dark Star"

*Grateful Dead: 1969-04-05 San Francisco (CDR) "Mountains of the Moon > Dark Star"

*Grateful Dead: 1969-04-11 Tucson AZ (CDR) "Dark Star"

*Grateful Dead: 1969-04-12 Salt Lake City (CDR) "Dark Star"

*Grant Green: Idle Moments

*Mary Halvorson: Belladonna

*Mary Halvorson: Amaryllis

*Earl Hines: Giants of Jazz (disc 1)

*Noah Howard: The Black Ark

*Freddie Hubbard: Hub-Tones

*Jefferson Pilot: Recordeo

*Henry Kaiser/Wadada Leo Smith: Yo Miles!: Sky Garden (disc 2)

*Henry Kaiser/Robert Musso: Echoes for Sonny

*Brandon Lopez: Nada Sagrada

*Jimmie Lunceford: The Complete Jimmie Lunceford Decca Sessions (discs 5, 6)

*Massacre: Meltdown

*Matt Mitchell: Zealous Angles

*Jemeel Moondoc/Hilliard Greene: Cosmic Nickelodeon

*New Loft Quartet: Mergus Goes to Baltimore

*New Ting: 2025-03-24 "Retroactivity Noticed" (wav)

*Painkiller: Samsara

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

*Jon Rose/Mark Dresser: Band Width

*Alexander von Schlippenbach/Globe Unity Orchestra: Globe Unity: 50 Years

*Sun Ra and His Myth Science Arkestra: Angels and Demons at Play

*Sun Ra and His Myth-Science Arkestra: The Nubians of Plutonia

*Sun Ra and His Myth Science Arkestra: When Angels Speak of Love (side 1)

*Sun Ra: Kingdom of Discipline (side 2)

*McCoy Tyner/Joe Henderson: Forces of Nature: Live at Slugs' (disc 1)

*UYA: 1993-09-26 We Salute You (wav)

*Various artists: That Devilin' Tune (Vol. I, disc 8)

*Various artists: Latin Rhythms in Hi Fi

*Ben Webster: Ballads (sides 3, 4)

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

Reading List, Week of 2025-03-30

Reading List 2025-03-31:

*Threadgill, Henry, and Brent Hayes Edwards. Easily Slip into Another World (started)
*Williams, Tad. The Burning Man. In Legends, ed. Robert Silverberg (started/finished)
*Williams, Tad. The Heart of What Was Lost (started/finished)
*Eco, Umberto. Confessions of a Young Novelist (finished)
*Williams, Tad. To Green Angel Tower (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)

Henry Threadgill on John Gilmore

Henry Threadgill writes about John Gilmore:

He was playing some very advanced harmonic and rhythmic information on the saxophone. His rhythmic approach was amazing. John used to tell me about practicing out of drum books, working on rhythmic patterns. ... It gives you a grounding in rhythmic patterns that you wouldn't ordinarily have, playing a melodic instrument. Gilmore's playing was very rhythmic playing. I don't meant that it was necessarily always busy, even if at times it was. It's more that there were very unusual rhythmic patterns in his playing. A lot of people knew about his musical thinking; Coltrane used to come and listen to him play. Gilmore was a highly sophisticated player, and totally original. (Threadgill, Easily Slip into Another World, Knopf 2023, p. 37)