Playlist, Week of 2019-12-28

Busy week...

Playlist 2019-12-29:

*Django Reinhardt: The Classic Early Recordings in Chronological Order (disc 2)
*Beatles: Hard Day's Night (2009 mono remaster)
*Beatles: Abbey Road (Anniversary Edition) (disc 1) (side 2)
*English Beat: Special Beat Service
*Henry Cow: Unrest (Cow Box Redux)
*Kinks: Something Else by the Kinks (Deluxe Edition) (disc 1)
*Kinks: Arthur, or, The Decline and Fall of the British Empire (50th anniversary remaster) (disc 1)
*Prince: 1999 (Super Deluxe Edition) (disc 1)
*Roxy Music: The Thrill of It All (disc 2)

Reading List, Week of 2019-12-28

Ellmann still rules...

Reading List 2019-12-29:

*Gabbert, Eliza. The Word Pretty (started)
*Piekut, Benjamin. Henry Cow: The World Is a Problem (started)
*Bowker, Gordon. James Joyce: A New Biography (finished)
*Rankin, Ian. Even Dogs in the Wild (finished)
*Deutsch, David. The Fabric of Reality: The Science of Parallel Universes and Its Implications (in progress)
*Schmidt, Arno. Bottom's Dream (trans. John E. Woods) (in progress)

Playlist, Week of 2019-12-21

Krimble!

Playlist 2019-12-22:

*Art Ensemble: 1967/68 (disc 2) "Trio (Oh Susanna)"
*Anthony Braxton: 4 (Ensemble) Compositions 1992 "Composition No. 163"
*Rodger Coleman and Sam Byrd: 2019-11-25 Nashville (rough mix wav)
*Colla Parte: 2019-11-24 Rhizome, Washington DC (wav) (set 1)
*Duke Ellington: 1932-04-11 (Hartford, CT)
*Vince Guaraldi Trio: A Charlie Brown Christmas
*Alexander Hawkins: Iron into Wind (Pears from an Elm)
*Layers of Memory: 2019-12-07 RVA (wav)
*Matt Mitchell: Phalanx Ambassadors
*Django Reinhardt: The Classic Early Recordings in Chronological Order (disc 1)
*Spontaneous Music Ensemble: Low Profile
*Sun Ra Arkestra: Kosmos in Blue: A John Gilmore Anthology, Vol. 1
*Sun Ra Arkestra: Blues at Midnight: A John Gilmore Anthology, Vol. 2
*Three Body Problem: 2019-11-02 Washington DC (wav)
*June Tyson/Sun Ra: Saturnian Queen of the Sun Ra Arkestra
*Vector Trio: (quartet)
*Various artists: History of Electronic/Electroacoustic Music (CDR compilation) (disc 39)
*Area: 1975-08 Ferrara, Italy (CDR)
*Beach Boys: Ultimate Christmas
*Dark Carpet: Factory Side
*Bob Dylan/Various artists: Theme Time Radio Hour No. 34: Christmas & New Years (CDR) (disc 2)
*Gentle Giant: Free Hand
*George Jones: Anniversary: Ten Years of Hits
*Pink Floyd: Ummagumma: The High Resolution Remasters (boot CDR) (discs 3, 4)
*Rascals: Once Upon a Dream
*Squeeze: Sweets from a Stranger
*Phil Spector: A Christmas Gift For You From Phil Spector
*Various artists: You Better Believe It!

Reading List, Week of 2019-12-21

Reading List 2019-12-22:

*Rankin, Ian. Even Dogs in the Wild (started)
*Rankin, Ian. Saints of the Shadow Bible (finished)
*Bowker, Gordon. James Joyce: A New Biography (in progress)
*Deutsch, David. The Fabric of Reality: The Science of Parallel Universes and Its Implications (in progress)
*Schmidt, Arno. Bottom's Dream (trans. John E. Woods) (in progress)

Some New Sun Ra Compilations

June Tyson: Saturnian Queen of the Sun Ra Arkestra
Like all good universes, that of Sun Ra is ever-expanding. The new release featuring June Tyson is a treasure trove of classics and unreleased goodies. Her splendid voice was the guiding light of the Arkestra throughout the last 30 years of Ra's music. Her throaty, almost slinky vocal maneuvers gave life to Ra's cryptic lyrics like no other. Many of the high points of Ra's extended cosmo-dramas come from Tyson and Ra's call-and-response (or is it call-and-repeat?) declamations. This compilation focuses more on the songs, and ends up being a kind of "greatest hits" for this side of Ra's music. Key versions of several of these songs come from the soundtrack to the film Space Is the Place, but the real juice comes from hitherto-unreleased concerts, especially three tracks from Delft,  1971, as well as "Never Never Land" and "Lost Horizon," both from Columbus, Ohio, in 1985. The sound quality is excellent--here's hoping more from these shows can be released!





Kosmos In Blue: A John Gilmore Anthology, Vol. 1
Blues at Midnight: A John Gilmore Anthology, Vol. 2
I stayed away from these two Bandcamp compilations featuring John Gilmore when they first came out since I was deeply enmeshed in sorting out my list of Gilmore top solos. Both of these releases are excellent outings featuring Gilmore's work in the '50s and early '60s. As to be expected, there is some overlap with my list, but not as much as you'd expect. That just goes to show how wide-ranging and deep the extent of Gilmore's soloing is.

If you're already a hardcore Gilmore fan (and if you aren't....why not?), you already have classic tracks like "Kosmos in Blue" and "Search Light Blues" in your collection. The draw here is the spruced-up sound and the context. Besides the selections being spot on, the pacing and sequencing of the lineup works really well; both of these albums are solid romps through Ra's '50s-'60s catalog, with healthy doses of Gilmore solos along the way.

The real highlights for me, though, are the previously unreleased alternate takes and pieces that showed up as bonus tracks on recent reissues, of which there are several. Chief among these are "Motherhood" and "Chicago, Southside," both from the second volume. "Motherhood" is a lovely ballad with a typically penchant Gilmore solo, while "Chicago, Southside" is a blues romper with Gilmore wailing and conversing with the stars: a brilliant solo not to be missed! "Blues from Saturn" also features a great solo, a perfect encapsulation of Gilmore's lyricism and phrasing. "Motherhood" and "Blues from Saturn" first appeared on the Bandcamp release Transitions 3: Chicago to New York, while "Chicago, Southside" first showed up as a bonus track on Art Forms of Dimensions Tomorrow, which places it as a Choreographer's Workshop recording. To repeat: absolutely essential.

Sun Ra's legacy continues to be in good hands with the worthy efforts of Irwin Chusid and Michael D. Anderson...

Playlist, Week of 2019-12-15

Another fun session with Layers of Memory last weekend... I really enjoyed exploring the quiet nooks and crannies of musical thought with Gary Rouzer and Jimmy Ghaphery... Great sounds on the latest RAIC album... A fantastic performance (two sets!) from Colla Parte up in DC at Rhizome... So the music goes, split between absorbing new sounds, revisiting older ones, loving the tried-and-true, and being amazed at the brand new... and trying to make sense of it all...

Playlist 2019-12-16:

*"A" Trio & AMM: AAMM
*Marshall Allen/Danny Ray Thompson/Jamie Saft/Trevor Dunn/Balazs Pandi/Roswell Rudd: Ceremonial Healing
*Art Ensemble: 1967/68 (disc 3) "Number 2 - Trio Version"
*Art Ensemble of Chicago: We Are on the Edge: A 50th Anniversary Celebration (discs 1, 2)
*Rodger Coleman and Sam Byrd: 2019-11-25 Nashville (rough mix wav)
*Colla Parte: 2019-11-24 Rhizome, Washington DC (wav)
*Kris Davis: Duopoly
*Miles Davis: The Complete Studio Recordings of the Miles Davis Quintet 1965–1968 (disc 4) "Circle in the Round"
*Fire! Orchestra: Arrival
*Haste: A Broad Margin
*Illegal Crowns: The No-Nosed Puppet
*Irreversible Entanglements: Irreversible Entanglements
*Large Unit: Erta Ale (disc 2)
*Layers of Memory: 2019-12-07 RVA (wav)
*Chris Lightcap: SuperBigmouth
*NVS Trio: 2016-12-12 Rhizome, Washington DC (wav)
*RAIC: RAIC Presents Cinema Paradiso Volume 1: Häxan
*Tom Rainey Trio: Combobulated
*Django Reinhardt: The Classic Early Recordings in Chronological Order (disc 3)
*Archie Shepp: Mama Too Tight
*Spontaneous Music Ensemble: Biosystem
*Spontaneous Music Ensemble: Low Profile
*Sun Ra: Some Bonus Tracks (CDR compilation)
*Sun Ra: Lanquidity
*David Torn/Tim Berne/Ches Smith: Sun Of Goldfinger
*June Tyson/Sun Ra: Saturnian Queen of the Sun Ra Arkestra
*Various artists: History of Electronic/Electroacoustic Music (CDR compilation) (disc 38)
*Dark Carpet: Factory Side
*Bob Dylan/Various artists: Theme Time Radio Hour “Weather”
*Bob Dylan/Various artists: Theme Time Radio Hour "Drinking"
*Grateful Dead: 1973-08-01 Roosevelt Stadium, NJ (CDR) "Dark Star"
*Jefferson Pilot: Shadow Hobby
*Pink Floyd: Ummagumma: The High Resolution Remasters (boot CDR) (discs 1, 2)
*Residents: Not Available (pREServed Edition) (disc 1)
*Lewis Taylor: Lewis Taylor
*Various artists: Country & Western Hit Parade 1960: Dim Lights, Thick Smoke, and Hillbilly Music
*Various artists: Woodstock: Back to the Garden (50th Anniversary Collection) (selections)

Reading List, Week of 2019-12-15

Reading List 2019-12-16:

*Rankin, Ian. Saints of the Shadow Bible (started)
*Moeser, John V., and Rutledge M. Dennis. The Politics of Annexation (New Open Access Edition) (finished)
*Rankin, Ian. Standing in Another Man's Grave (finished)
*Bowker, Gordon. James Joyce: A New Biography (in progress)
*Deutsch, David. The Fabric of Reality: The Science of Parallel Universes and Its Implications (in progress)
*Schmidt, Arno. Bottom's Dream (trans. John E. Woods) (in progress)