Playlist, Week of 2026-01-11

 

Components is yet another excellent Blue Note recording from Bobby Hutcherson... Herbie Hancock is brilliant on this, and Joe Chambers' drumming, and compositions on all of Side 2, are tasteful and exhilarating... with its "components" (sorry) of avant-garde, outside/inside playing typical of the work of Hutcherson, Andrew Hill, Joe Henderson, Wayne Shorter, etc. of this period, this album is one of the reasons I keep returning to mid-sixties Blue Note... The 1980 Art Ensemble of Chicago show features an hour-long rendition of "People in Sorrow" that is beautiful and stirring... Blissing out with Sun Ra and Duke Ellington... 

Playlist 2026-01-12:

*Art Ensemble of Chicago: 1980-02-23 New Haven (CDR) (disc 2)
*Fred Astaire: Starring Fred Astaire (discs 1, 2)
*Beatles: Meet the Beatles! (mono 2024) (sides 1, 2)
*Anthony Braxton: 12 Comp (ZIM) 2017 (Comp. 416)
*Anthony Braxton: Trillium X (discs 3, 4, 5)
*Patricia Brennan Septet: 2025-11-01 Berlin (CDR)
*Patsy Cline: Imagine That: The Lost Recordings 1954-1963 (disc 2)
*Miles Davis Quintet: Miles Smiles
*Duke Ellington: Duke Ellington 1939 (side 1)
*Duke Ellington and His Orchestra: The Ellington Suites "The Queen's Suite"
*Duke Ellington: Anatomy of a Murder
*Duke Ellington: His Piano and His Orchestra at the Bal Masque (side 2)
*Duke Ellington: The Afro-Eurasian Eclipse
*Globe Unity Orchestra: Globe Unity ‘67 & ‘70 "Globe Unity '70"
*Grateful Dead: 1972-09-15/16 Boston (Enjoying the Ride, disc 12)
*Grateful Dead: Dick's Picks 36 (1972-09-21 Philadelphia) (disc 3) "Dark Star"
*Grateful Dead: 1974-10-17 Winterland, SF (CDR) "The Other One"
*Grateful Dead/John Oswald: Grayfolded (disc 2) "73rd Star Bridge Sonata"
*Elmo Hope Ensemble: Sounds from Rikers Island
*Bobby Hutcherson: Components
*Ingrid Laubrock: Purposing the Air (discs 1, 2)
*Joe Morris: Abstract Forest
*Camila Nebbia/Kit Downes/Andrew Lisle: Exhaust
*Sam Rivers: Contours
*Wayne Shorter: Etcetera
*Wayne Shorter: Schizophrenia
*Sun Ra: The Heliocentric Worlds of Sun Ra, Vol. 2
*Sun Ra and His Astro Infinity Arkestra: Atlantis
*Sun Ra: Astro Black (side 2)
*Sun Ra & His Astro-Infinity Arkestra: Sign of the Myth (side 1)
*Sun Ra and His Astro Infinity Arkestra: Friendly Love
*Sun Ra and His Intergalactic Arkestra: Outer Space Employment Agency
*Sun Ra: A Fireside Chat with Lucifer (side 2)
*Sun Ra: Celestial Love (side 2)
*Sun Ra: Blue Delight
*UYA: 1994-06-14 Acid Stipulation (wav)
*Maria Valencia/Brandon López/Matt Moran: Tarabita Espiral
*Various artists: The Bottle Tapes: Selections from the Empty Bottle Jazz and Improvised Music Series 1996-2005 (disc 1)
*Weather Report: 1974-09-27 Boston (CDR)
*Baby Face Willette: Stop and Listen
*Baby Face Willette: Face to Face 

Playlist, Week of 2022-01-30

Really been enjoying the Sparks box set of Island LPs.... looking forward to seeing them at Big Ears... Bird Meets Wire is brooding and beautiful, a blend of dissonance, drones, and austere melodies paradoxically creates a sense of unrest and relaxation... With compositions by Andrew Hill and Joe Chambers and fantastic solos from Hill and Sam Rivers, Bobby Hutcherson's Dialogue is a classic... Standout track on Robert Wyatt's Flotsam Jetsam: the 1971 Symbiosis track with Mongezi Feza and Gary Windo... kind of a cross between Brotherhood of Breath and Fourth-era Soft Machine... great to hear Wyatt's drumming in this context … In light of all the news--all the news--I have been finding solace and comfort from Blue Note , especially the gorgeous tenor sax of Hank Mobley… nothing earth-shattering, just solid, thoughtful swing… Bobby Hutcherson, Joe Henderson, and Andrew Hill are also doing it for me… All of Ingrid Laubrock and Tom Rainey's Stir Crazy series episodes are worth listening to, but special attention should be paid to the final awesome episode (Episode 60): a huge mashup of the previous 20 episodes... a blend of 20 different Ingrids and Toms in a beautifully arranged synthesis of multiple sessions… hell, yeah!

Playlist 2022-01-31:

*Susan Alcorn/Leila Bordreuil/Ingrid Laubrock: Bird Meets Wire

*Beach Boys: Holland (Analogue Productions) (sides 1, 2, 4)

*Beatles: Get Back: The Rooftop Performance

*Anthony Braxton: 12 Comp (ZIM) 2017 (Comp. 402)

*Circle: 1971-03-03 Hamburg (CDR) "There Is No Greater Love"

*John Coltrane: Impressions (side 1)

*John Coltrane: My Favorite Things: Coltrane at Newport "Impressions" (1963)

*Kris Davis: Rye Eclipse

*Eloping with the Sun: Counteract This Turmoil Like Trees and Birds

*Stan Getz: The Complete Roost Recordings (disc 1)

*Joe Henderson: The Complete Joe Henderson Blue Note Sessions (disc 1)

*Andrew Hill: Mosaic Select (disc 1)

*Lightnin' Hopkins: Dirty House Blues (disc 2)

*Bobby Hutcherson: Dialogue

*Joseph Jarman: As If It Were the Seasons "As If It Were the Seasons"

*Ingrid Laubrock/Tom Rainey: Stir Crazy (CDR compilation) (discs 15, 16)

*Roscoe Mitchell Discussions Orchestra: Discussions

*Hank Mobley: The Complete Blue Note Hank Mobley Fifties Sessions (disc 6)

*Louis Moholo Octet: 1978-10 BBC (CDR)

*Opeth: Damnation

*Charlie Parker: Bird: The Complete Charlie Parker on Verve (disc 6)

*Prince & the New Power Generation: Caught in the Act: The Classic 1993 Broadcast (boot CDR) (disc 1)

*Tomeka Reid Quartet: Old New

*Matana Roberts: 2009-04-01 London (CDR)

*Rolling Stones: Their Satanic Majesties Request (2017 stereo remaster)

*Sparks: Kimono My House (side 1)

*Sparks: Propaganda (sides 1, 2)

*Sparks: Indiscreet (sides 1, 2)

*Sparks: Big Beat (sides 1, 2)

*Sparks: The Rest of Sparks (sides 1, 2)

*Sun Ra and His Arkestra: Omniverse

*Sun Ra: Black Utopia Excerpts (CDR compilation)

*Horace Tapscott: The Dark Tree 1 & 2 (disc 2)

*Cecil Taylor: Garden (disc 1) "Garden II"

*Henry Threadgill Zooid: In for a Penny, In for a Pound (disc 2)

*Umlaut Big Band: Mary's Ideas (disc 2)

*Brian Wilson: At My Piano

*Stevie Wonder - Roddie Joy: Selections (CDR compilation)

*WSAM: Razz-Junk-Fock (cassette compilation) (side A)

*Robert Wyatt: Flotsam Jetsam