A Lifetime of Listening

Sun Ra, Anthony Braxton, Duke Ellington, Cecil Taylor, John Coltrane, Art Ensemble of Chicago, Miles Davis, Charles Mingus... any -one- of these artists would provide a lifetime of listening... lots to do!

Playlist, Week of 2026-08-23

Returning again to Ingrid Laubrock's Dreamt Twice, Twice Dreamt was a delight... one of her most entrancing albums, somehow capturing the foggy ethereality of half-remembered dreamscapes... for some reason I associate it in my mind with Sun Ra's Heliocentric Worlds, Vol. 1... it's that sense that no matter how many times I listen to it, I feel like there's more to grasp that's just beyond my comprehension... music to return to time and again... Reading Richard Cook's It's About That Time is of course sending me back (not that I ever left) to Miles Davis... 

Playlist 2026-08-24:

*Cannonball Adderley: Somethin' Else
*Louis Armstrong: From the Original Okehs Vol. 5 1931/32
*Will Bryce/Sam Byrd/Jimmy Ghaphery: 2026-05-02 RVA (CDR) "Pear Tree"
*Nels Cline Singers: Initiate (disc 1)
*Rodger Coleman/Sam Byrd: The Mathematics of War
*John Coltrane: Live in Japan (disc 3) "Peace on Earth"
*Miles Davis/John Coltrane: The Complete Columbia Recordings 1955-1961 (discs 1, 2)
*Miles Davis + 19/Orchestra under the Direction of Gil Evans: Miles Ahead
*Miles Davis: 1958-05-17 NYC (CDR)
*Earth Wind and Fire: Faces (selections)
*Earth Wind and Fire: Raise! (selections)
*Duke Ellington and His Orchestra: The Treasury Shows, Vol. 14 (disc 1)
*Grateful Dead: The Complete Fillmore West 1969 (disc 7) "Dark Star"
*Grateful Dead: 1969-12-04 San Francisco (CDR) "Dark Star"
*Grateful Dead: 1981-05-01 Hampton VA (CDR) (disc 3)
*Grateful Dead: 1990-09-20 NYC (CDR) "Dark Star"
*Guided By Voices: Crawlspace of the Pantheon
*Alexander Hawkins: No Nation But Imagination
*Susie Ibarra: Flower after Flower
*ISM: Metaphor
*Ingrid Laubrock: Dreamt Twice, Twice Dreamt (discs 1, 2)
*Rob Mazurek Exploding Star Orchestra: Galactic Parables: Vol. 1 (disc 1) "Free Agents of Sound"
*Ava Mendoza: Alive Alone, Alive Together
*Nicole Mitchell's Sonic Projections: The Secret Escapades of Velvet Anderson
*New Ting: 2026-08-17 "Golly" (wav)
*Paal Nilssen-Love Circus with The Ex Guitars: Turn Thy Loose
*Pauline Oliveros: Reverberations: Tape & Electronic Music 1961-1970 (disc 7)
*OM: Sudpol
*Otomo Yoshihide Special Big Band: Stone Stone Stone
*Charlie Parker: The Complete Savoy Studio Sessions (side 6)
*Sun Ra and His Arkestra: Elliptical Orbits
*Sun Ra and His Space Arkestra: What Planet Is This? (disc 2)
*Sun Ra: Somewhere Over the Rainbow (Strut) (disc 2)
*Sun Ra and His Omniverse Jet-Set Arkestra: 1980-12-31 Detroit (CDR) (disc 8)
*Cecil Taylor: 3 Phasis (side 1)
*Cecil Taylor: One Too Many Salty Swift and Not Goodbye (sides 1, 2)
*Cecil Taylor Orchestra Humane: At Iridium 2004 (discs 1, 2)
*Henry Threadgill Zooid: This Brings Us To (side 1)
*Marta Warelis: Still Life with Lemons

Reading List, Week of 2026-08-23

Reading List 2026-08-24:

*Barker, Nicola. The Three Button Trick and Other Stories (started)
*Birkerts, Sven. The Other Walk: Essays (started)
*Gillen, Kieron et al. The Power Fantasy, Vol. 1: The Superpowers (started)
*Tejaratchi, Sean. Liartown: The First Four Years (reread/started)
*Fratricide Punished, or, Prince Hamlet of Denmark (transl. Horace Howard Furness) (started/finished)
*Kirby, Jack. The Hunger Dogs (started/finished)
*Ram V., Evan Cagle, et al. The New Gods, Vol. 1: The Falling Sky (reread/started/finished)
*Ram V., Evan Cagle, et al. The New Gods, Vol. 2: Edge of Darkness (started/finished)
*Iyer, Pico. A Beginner's Guide to Japan (finished)
*Vollmann, William T. The Ice-Shirt (Seven Dreams: A Book of North American Landscapes, Vol. 1) (finished)
*Cook, Richard. It's About That Time: Miles Davis On and Off Record (in progress)
*Garner, Bryan A. Modern American Usage, 2nd ed. (in progress)
 

And Big Band: Upcoming RVA Gig on Friday August 28, 2026

 

I will be playing in And Big Band this Friday... looking forward to it! 

Playlist, Week of 2026-08-16

 

I hope the lineup of Kim Cass's Levs proves to be more than a one-off... I really enjoy Charlie Parker on tenor... he's not as comfortable with it, and so his playing is less fluid... but it's still monstrously swinging... The Cecil Taylor big band music is endlessly nourishing... "If music be the food of love, play on"... Still continuing to be blown away by the majestic Sun Ra release Somewhere Over the Rainbow... especially all the new John Gilmore solos... 

Playlist 2026-08-17:

*Art Ensemble: 1967/68 (disc 4) "Number 2 - Quartet Version Take 7"
*Art Ensemble of Chicago: Kabalaba (pt. 1)
*Beatles: Something New (side 2)
*Beatles: Yesterday and Today (sides 1, 2)
*Anthony Braxton/Richard Teitelbaum: Silence/Time Zones:  "Crossing (Dedicated To Roscoe Mitchell)"
*Kim Cass: Levs
*Frédéric Chopin: 24 Preludes Op. 28/Sonata No. 2, Op. 35/Polonaise, Op. 53 (Evgeny Kissin)
*Gerald Cleaver: Adjust
*John Coltrane: Giant Steps (side 2)
*Miles Davis: Complete Birth of the Cool
*Miles Davis: Collector's Items (side 2)
*Deerhoof: Future Teenage Cave Artists
*Deerhoof: Miracle-Level
*Duke Ellington: The Complete 1932-1940 Brunswick, Columbia and Master Recordings of Duke Ellington and His Famous Orchestra (disc 11)
*Duke Ellington: Live in Mexico "The Mexican Suite"
*Grateful Dead: 1981-05-01 Hampton VA (CDR) (disc 2)
*Charlie Haden: Liberation Music Orchestra (side 1)
*Ingrid Laubrock: Monochromes
*Ingrid Laubrock/Kris Davis: Blood Moon
*James Brandon Lewis: An Unruly Manifesto
*London Jazz Composers Orchestra featuring Anthony Braxton: 1988-03-25 Basel, Switzerland (CDR) (disc 2) "Unidentified Barry Guy Composition"
*Monstrance: Monstrance (disc 2)
*New Ting: 2027-07-27 "Horse for Au Pair" (wav)
*OM: It's About Time
*Tony Oxley Quintet: Angular Apron
*Charlie Parker: The Complete Savoy and Dial Studio Recordings 1944-1948 (disc 5)
*Soft Machine: Floating World Live
*Sun Ra and His Space Arkestra: What Planet Is This? (disc 1)
*Sun Ra: Somewhere Over the Rainbow (Strut) (disc 1)
*Sun Ra and His Omniverse Jet-Set Arkestra: 1980-12-31 Detroit (CDR) (disc 7)
*Sun Ra: Inside the Light World: Sun Ra Meets the OVC (side 1)
*Cecil Taylor: Fragments: The Complete 1969 Salle Pleyel Concerts (disc 1)
*Cecil Taylor Unit: 1979-03-15 WKCR, NYC (CDR) track 1
*Cecil Taylor Orchestra Humane: At Iridium 2004 (discs 13, 14)
*UYA: 1995-03-16 Touch Module (wav)
*Various artists: Stax Singles Vol. 4: Rarities and the Best of the Rest (disc 2)
*Stevie Wonder: 1979-12-18 Secret Life of Plants Tour, Pasadena CA (CDR) (disc 1)
*Robert Wyatt: Shleep 

Reading List, Week of 2026-08-16

Reading List 2026-08-17:

*Iyer, Pico. A Beginner's Guide to Japan (started)
*Vollmann, William T. The Ice-Shirt (Seven Dreams: A Book of North American Landscapes, Vol. 1) (started)
*Brubaker, Ed, and Sean Phillips. Criminal, Vol. 5: The Sinners (started/finished)
*Brubaker, Ed, and Sean Phillips. Criminal, Vol. 6: The Last of the Innocent (started/finished)
*Kirby, Jack. Jack Kirby's Fourth World, featuring: Mister Miracle (reread/started/finished)
*Shakespeare, William. Hamlet (Arden 3rd ed., ed. Harold Jenkins) (reread/started/finished)
*Barker, Nicola. Darkmans (finished)
*Cook, Richard. It's About That Time: Miles Davis On and Off Record (in progress)
*Garner, Bryan A. Modern American Usage, 2nd ed. (in progress)
 

Playlist, Week of 2026-08-09

 

Secret Life of Plants is sadly underrated... unavoidable, really, coming as it did right after Songs in the Key of Life... I just love it.... Hardcore sax excitement from Mars Williams on Boneshaker's Unusual Words... Blues in Orbit is one of Ellington's best '60s albums... 

Playlist 2026-08-10:

*Boneshaker: Unusual Words
*Anthony Braxton: 9 Compositions (Iridium) 2006 (selections)
*Bass/Jaime/Isasti: Vi La Pampa Arder
*James Brown: The Payback
*Miles Davis: Filles de Kilimanjaro
*Miles Davis: The Cellar Door Sessions 1970 (disc 3) "What I Say"
*Deerhoof: Custom Made
*Jack DeJohnette/Made in Chicago: 2015-07-11 Rotterdam (CDR) track 5
*Duke Ellington and His Famous Orchestra: The Ellington Era, Vol. 1: 1927-1940 (side 2)
*Duke Ellington and His Award Winners: Blues in Orbit (sides 1, 2)
*Fire! Orchestra: Arrival 
*Merzbow: Tauromachine (disc 2)
*Monstrance: Monstrance (disc 1)
*Eva Novoa: The Freedom Suite
*Ochibo No Ame: Studio Recording
*Maurice Ravel: Bolero (Lorin Maazel/Orchestre National de France)
*Ravi Shankar: Three Ragas
*Sun Ra and His Intergalactic Research Arkestra: Paradiso Amsterdam 1970 (side 3)
*Sun Ra: East Two + 7
*Sun Ra and His Omniverse Jet-Set Arkestra: 1980-12-31 Detroit (CDR) (disc 6)
*Cecil Taylor Unit: 1966-10-16 Stuttgart (CDR) (disc 1)
*Cecil Taylor Orchestra Humane: At Iridium 2004 (disc 12)
*UYA: Space Chunk (CDR compilation)
*Various artists: Stax Singles Vol. 4: Rarities and the Best of the Rest (disc 1)
*Mal Waldron: The Call (side 1)
*Kenny Wheeler: Deer Wan (side 1)
*Stevie Wonder: Journey Through the Secret Life of Plants (discs 1, 2)

Reading List, Week of 2026-08-09

Reading List 2026-08-10:

*Cook, Richard. It's About That Time: Miles Davis On and Off Record (started)
*Brubaker, Ed, and Sean Phillips. Criminal, Vol. 4: Bad Night (started/finished)
*Drnaso, Nick. Sabrina (started/finished)
*Birkerts, Sven. American Energies: Essays on Fiction (finished)
*Barker, Nicola. Darkmans (in progress)
*Garner, Bryan A. Modern American Usage, 2nd ed. (in progress)
 

Playlist, Week of 2026-08-02

 

 

 

I finally finished relistening to all the Grateful Dead versions of "Dark Star," along with reading the very helpful blog Every Dark Star... my main takeaway is that the best ones were from the period 1972-1974, when Bill Kreutzmann was the only drummer and they were still using "Dark Star" as an exploratory platform... when they returned to it after a long haitus, the magic was mostly gone, and they didn't seem to be inspired by it the way they were in the early '70s... even so, there are surprising nooks and crannies in most versions, even in the late '90s... I am looking forward to exploring other improvisational areas they created, especially in "Playing in the Band" and "The Other One"...

Playlist 2026-08-03:

*Ayumi Ishito: Roboquarians, Vol. 2
*Anthony Braxton: Creative Orchestra (Köln) 1978 "Comp. 51"
*Rodger Coleman/Sam Byrd: Unheard Voices
*Duke Ellington: Never No Lament: The Blanton-Webster Band, 1940-1942 (disc 3)
*Duke Ellington: Duke Ellington Live! At the Newport Jazz Festival '59 (selections)
*Duke Ellington: The Far East Suite
*Aretha Franklin: Young, Gifted, and Black (side 2)
*Grateful Dead: 1994-03-16 Rosemont IL (CDR) "Dark Star"
*Grateful Dead: 1994-03-30 Atlanta (CDR) "Dark Star"
*OM: Willisau
*OOIOO: The Horizon Spiral
*Ravi Shankar: Three Ragas "Raga Jog"
*Sun Ra: Somewhere Over the Rainbow (Strut) (disc 2)
*Sun Ra: On Jupiter (2025 remaster) (sides 1, 2)
*Sun Ra and His Omniverse Jet-Set Arkestra: 1980-12-31 Detroit (CDR) (disc 5)
*Art Tatum: The One and Only (sides 1, 2, 3, 4)
*Cecil Taylor Orchestra Humane: At Iridium 2004 (disc 11)
*Henry Threadgill: Double Up, Plays Double Up Plus "Game Is Up"
*UYA: 1995-02-26 New Space Quiet Run (wav)
*UYA: 1995-03-08 Think Object (wav)
*Various artists: The Complete Stax-Volt Singles 1959-1968 (disc 2)
*Stevie Wonder: 1975-07-16 Bremen (CDR)
*Stevie Wonder: Journey Through the Secret Life of Plants (discs 1, 2) 

Reading List, Week of 2026-08-02

Reading List 2026-08-03:

*Tynion IV, James, et al. The Nice House on the Lake, Vol. 2 (started/finished)
*Christgau, Robert. Is It Still Good to Ya? Fifty Years of Rock Criticism, 1967-2017 (finished)
*Kirby, Jack. Jack Kirby's Mister Miracle (reread/finished)
*Barker, Nicola. Darkmans (in progress)
*Birkerts, Sven. American Energies: Essays on Fiction (in progress)
*Garner, Bryan A. Modern American Usage, 2nd ed. (in progress)