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)
 

Playlist, Week of 2025-03-23

Weird of Mouth consists of improvisations from the trio of Mette Rasmussen, Ches Smith, and Craig Taborn... Smith and Taborn I was familiar with, but Rasmussen less so... she is an excellent, fiery alto sax player... their playing together here is dazzling and brilliant... Yes, What's Going On is a masterpiece, but I have a soft spot in my heart for I Want You, and I think it's a better seduction album than Let's Get It On... I am finding "The Queen's Suite" to be one of the weakest of Duke Ellington's suites, in spite of what Lambert has to say about it... I will listen more to see what I am missing... I love the concept of Yo Miles! but they can't touch the pure intensity of what inspired them... but it's great that that music continued to be played; it needs to be, even if it ain't Miles... 

Playlist 2025-03-24:

*Louis Armstrong: From the Original Okehs Vol. 3 1928/29
*Average White Band: Average White Band
*Black Host: Life in the Sugar Candle Mines "Hover"
*Blood Incantation: Absolute Elsewhere
*Blue Notes: Blue Notes for Mongezi (disc 2)
*Blue Notes: Blue Notes in Concert
*Anthony Braxton: 2 Compositions (Ensemble) 1989/1991
*Anthony Braxton Quartet: Standards (Brussels) 2006 (discs 2, 3)
*Patricia Brennan Septet: Breaking Stretch
*Kris Davis: Diatom Ribbons Live at the Village Vanguard (disc 1)
*Kris Davis Trio: 2022-05-13 NYC (CDR)
*Miles Davis: 1972-09-14 Boston (CDR)
*Miles Davis: In Concert (sides 1, 2)
*Nick Dunston: Atlantic Extraction
*Nick Dunston: Colla Voce
*Bob Dylan/Various artists: Theme Time Radio Hour S01 E26 "Halloween"
*Duke Ellington: The Private Collection, Vol. 1: Studio Sessions Chicago, 1956
*Duke Ellington and His Orchestra: Newport 1958
*Duke Ellington/Johnny Hodges: Back to Back
*Duke Ellington/Johnny Hodges: Side by Side
*Duke Ellington and His Orchestra: The Ellington Suites "The Queen's Suite"
*Marvin Gaye: I Want You (Deluxe Edition) (discs 1, 2)
*Grateful Dead: The Complete Fillmore West 1969 (disc 8) "Dark Star"
*Grateful Dead: 1969-03-15 San Francisco (CDR) "Dark Star"
*Grateful Dead: 1969-03-22 Pasadena (CDR) "Dark Star"
*Grateful Dead: 1969-03-28 Modesto, CA (CDR) "Dark Star"
*Grateful Dead: 1969-03-29 Las Vegas (CDR) "Dark Star"
*Grateful Dead: 1974-09-11 London (CDR) "Seastones"
*Grateful Dead: 1980-09-04 Providence RI (Download Series Vol. 7) (disc 3)
*Mary Halvorson Octet: Away with You
*Mary Halvorson Octet: 2018-11-12 Venice (CDR)
*Henry Kaiser/Wadada Leo Smith: Yo Miles!: Sky Garden (disc 1)
*Janel Leppin: Ensemble Volcanic Ash: To March Is to Love
*Little Feat: Waiting for Columbus (disc 1)
*Locals: Play the Music of Anthony Braxton
*Brandon Lopez: Nada Sagrada
*Allen Lowe and the Constant Sorrow Orchestra: Louis Armstrong's America, Vol. 2 (discs 1, 2)
*Brian Marsella’s iMAGiNARiUM: Mediatas (disc 3)
*Charles Mingus and His Jazz Groups: Mingus Dynasty
*Matt Mitchell: Vista Accumulation (discs 1, 2)
*Roscoe Mitchell: Solo [3] (disc 3)
*Roscoe Mitchell: One Head Four People
*Ikue Mori: Obelisk
*New Ting: 2025-03-03: "Cleaning Up the Corners" (wav)
*Opeth: The Last Will and Testament
*Ozric Tentacles: Jurassic Shift
*Evan Parker Electro-Acoustic Ensemble: Warszawa 2019
*Red Trio/John Butcher: Summer Skyshift
*Matana Roberts: Coin Coin Chapter Two: Mississippi Moonchile
*Ravi Shankar: Live: Ravi Shankar at the Monterey International Pop Festival
*Sharp/Lopez/Kaiser/Amendola: Minus X: A Tribute to the Music of Iannis Xenakis (disc 1)
*Matthew Shipp Trio: New Concepts in Piano Trio Jazz
*UYA: 1993-08-21 Office Facility Love Nest Rug (wav)
*UYA: 1993-09-13 Intervallic Shapes (wav)
*UYA: 1993-09-19 Off the Corner (wav)
*Various artists: That Devilin' Tune (Vol. I, disc 7)
*Anna Webber: simpletrio2000
*Webber/Morris Big Band: Both Are True
*Ben Webster: Ballads (sides 1, 2)
*Weird of Mouth: Weird of Mouth

Reading List, Week of 2025-03-23

Reading List 2025-03-24:

*Eco, Umberto. Confessions of a Young Novelist (started)
*Lowe, Allen. Turn Me Loose White Man, or, Appropriating Culture: How to Listen to American Music, 1900-1960, Vol. 2 (finished)
*Lambert, Eddie. Duke Ellington: A Listener's Guide (reread/selections)
*Mendelson, Cheryl. Home Comforts: The Art and Science of Keeping House (in progress)
*Williams, Tad. To Green Angel Tower (in progress)
*Young, Marguerite. Miss MacIntosh, My Darling (reread/in progress)

 

Playlist, Week of 2025-03-16

The most well-known version of "Dark Star" has to be the first one the Grateful Dead released, on Live/Dead... and that really was the best version they'd played (that was recorded, anyway) up to that point... everything comes together... up to then, Bill Kreutzmann had kept himself to half-heartedly playing shakers, with only occasional tentative forays on the drum kit, until 1969-02-22, and that must have felt good, because here, a few days later, he plays the kit forcefully for part of the song, driving Garcia in a different way and adding a new dimension, which to my ears kicks it to the next level... "Dark Star" is becoming more and more of a full-group improvisatory exploration... This week my listening was focused, it seems, on "Dark Star," Duke Ellington, Roscoe Mitchell, Anthony Braxton, and Sun Ra... so what else is new?

Playlist 2025-03-17:

*[Ahmed]: Wood Blues

*[Ahmed]: Giant Beauty (disc 2)

*All Set: All Set

*Johann Sebastian Bach: The Well-Tempered Clavier (Glenn Gould) (disc 1)

*Beatles: The Early Beatles (mono 2024) (side 1)

*Blue Notes: Blue Notes for Mongezi (disc 2)

*Hamiet Bluiett: Orchestra, Duo, & Septet (sides 1, 2)

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

*Anthony Braxton Ensemble: 2006-06-10 Kerava, Finland (CDR)

*Anthony Braxton Sextet: 2006-08-12 Lisboa (CDR)

*Anthony Braxton Quartet: Standards (Brussels) 2006 (disc 1)

*Peter Brötzmann Octet: The Complete Machine Gun Sessions "Machine Gun"

*Clear Frame: Clear Frame

*Gerald Cleaver & Violet Hour: Live At Firehouse 12

*John Coltrane: One Down, One Up: Live at the Half Note (disc 1)

*John Coltrane: First Meditations (For Quartet) (side 1)

*Miles Davis: In Person Friday and Saturday Nights at the Blackhawk, Complete (disc 3)

*Miles Davis Quintet: 1967-11-07 Karlsruhe, Germany (CDR)

*Bob Dylan/Various artists: Theme Time Radio Hour S01 E24 "Time"

*Bob Dylan/Various artists: Theme Time Radio Hour S01 E25 "Guns"

*Duke Ellington: The Girls' Suite/The Perfume Suite (side 2)

*Duke Ellington/Ella Fitzgerald: Ella Fitzgerald Sings the Duke Ellington Song Book (disc 3) "Portrait of Ella Fitzgerald"

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

*Duke Ellington: His Piano and His Orchestra at the Bal Masque

*Duke Ellington's Spacemen: The Cosmic Scene

*Duke Ellington and His Orchestra: Live at Newport 1958 (discs 1, 2)

*Duke Ellington and His Orchestra: Jazz at the Plaza Vol. II (side 1)

*Duke Ellington and His Orchestra: Ellington Jazz Party in Stereo (side 1)

*Kate Gentile: Mannequins

*George: Leave It (side 2)

*George: Letters to George (side 2)

*Grateful Dead: Fillmore East 2-11-69 (disc 2) "Dark Star"

*Grateful Dead: 1969-02-14 Philadelphia (CDR) "Dark Star"

*Grateful Dead: 1969-02-15 Philadelphia (CDR) "Dark Star"

*Grateful Dead: 1969-02-21 Vellejo, CA (CDR) (disc 1)

*Grateful Dead: 1969-02-22 Vellejo, CA (CDR) "Mountains of the Moon > Dark Star"

*Grateful Dead: Live/Dead "Dark Star"

*Grateful Dead: The Complete Fillmore West 1969 (disc 4) "Dark Star"

*Grateful Dead: The Complete Fillmore West 1969 (disc 7) "Dark Star"

*Mary Halvorson: Reverse Blue

*Billie Holiday: The Complete Billie Holiday on Verve 1945-1959 (disc 1)

*Vijay Iyer: Compassion

*Jefferson Pilot: The Return of Troubled Youth Orchestra

*Jefferson Pilot: Sad Magazine

*Ned Lagin: Seastones (1975 versions)

*Lama + Chris Speed: Lamaçal

*Allen Lowe and the Constant Sorrow Orchestra: Louis Armstrong's America, Vol. 1 (discs 1, 2)

*Jimmie Lunceford: The Complete Jimmie Lunceford Decca Sessions (disc 4)

*Brian Marsella’s iMAGiNARiUM: Mediatas (discs 1, 2)

*Roscoe Mitchell: Songs in the Wind

*Roscoe Mitchell: 2012-03-10 London (CDR)

*Roscoe Mitchell/Brus Trio: After Fallen Leaves

*Roscoe Mitchell and the Note Factory: The Bad Guys

*Thelonious Monk: Piano Solos (side 1)

*Ikue Mori: Class Insecta

*New Ting: 2025-03-03: "Cleaning Out the Corners" (wav)

*NRBQ: Interstellar (side 1)

*Tony Oxley Quintet: The Baptised Traveller

*Zeena Parkins: Dam Against the Spring Tide

*Matana Roberts: Coin Coin Chapter Two: Mississippi Moonchile

*Matana Roberts: Coin Coin Chapter Five: In the Garden (sides 3, 4)

*Sonny Rollins: Worktime (side 1)

*Otis Rush: 1956-1958 Cobra Recordings

*Secret People: Secret People

*Ravi Shankar: The Sounds of India

*Sun Ra and His Solar Arkestra: Other Planes of There (side 2)

*Sun Ra and His Myth Science Arkestra: When Angels Speak of Love (sides 1, 2)

*Sun Ra: Heliocentric Worlds Vol. 3: The Lost Tapes

*Sun Ra: Spaceways [Outer Spaceways Inc.]

*Sun Ra: Monorails & Satellites: Works for Solo Piano Vols. 1, 2, 3 (disc 3)

*Sun Ra and His Arkestra: Thunder of the Gods (side 1)

*Sun Ra: Egypt 1971 (disc 3)

*Henry Threadgill's Zooid: Pop Start the Tape, StoP

*Mary Lou Williams Trio: Free Spirits

*John Zorn: New Masada Quartet Vol. 3

*John Zorn/Brian Marsella Trio: Ballades

Reading List, Week of 2025-03-16

Reading List 2025-03-17:

*Williams, Tad. To Green Angel Tower (started)
*Paré, Alix, and Valérie Sueur-Hermel. The Fantastic Gustave Doré (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)
*Young, Marguerite. Miss MacIntosh, My Darling (reread/in progress)