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Post by alunsevern on Feb 22, 2015 16:08:48 GMT
Gregory, We think alike - but with PRE-BIRD on a mono promo you do it in style! Today I'm back in more contemporary territory. Earlier the Von Schlippnbach Trio live at Bauhaus, Dessau 2009. Three long improvsations - the first 41 minutes bit it flies by. Some wonderful soloing by Evan Parker in his inimitable style, but on tenor rather than soprano. And now - for the second or third time recently - Misha Mengelberg's SENNE SING SONG, which is a lovely record.
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Post by dottorjazz on Feb 22, 2015 16:45:03 GMT
don't know why but in these period I prefer older music than Alunsevern's. true that I don't follow Jazz after 1970. today's Mingus' day: a couple of French America recorded 1970..., two classics on Impulse, with preference for Mingus x5, I've never loved the sinner lady too much, some 1964 European tour with Dolphy and, with hot ampli, the rarest among my several Mingus. on his own label JWS At Monterey and music written for Monterey, strictly original in their single pocket covers. Attachment Deletedah, yes, haircut yesterday.
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Post by alunsevern on Feb 22, 2015 20:28:54 GMT
Dott, You know what a wheelbarrow is, I presume? Well, after seeing that picture, I am currently on my way to your house - with a wheelbarrow.
Now on to Enrico Rava's 2007 recording for ECM, The Words and the Days. I very much like Rava, and I like him especially paired with a second horn -- in this case the marvellous Italian trombonist, Gianluca Petrella. Marvellous growls and smears and rumbles and whispers in the background, which somehow complement Rava's full almost flugelhornish tone beautifully.
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Post by gregorythefish on Feb 23, 2015 15:25:54 GMT
alun, amazingly, it was in the new arrivals bin at my local spot for just $15! sometimes i get a little lucky! i also have a stereo copy that plays very well, but this is the only hedonism in my collection, for i have mono/stereo pairs of little else of value. haha. dottor: i have the first non-private press of mingus at monterey, and have often considered buying the white cover version you display which was mingus' original private press. how is the sound quality? also, how can one not like black saint!? that might be my second or third favorite recording ever! but alas, it takes all kinds. alun, i'll meet you at dottor's with my friend's pickup truck.
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Post by alunsevern on Feb 23, 2015 18:24:52 GMT
"i'll meet you at dottor's with my friend's pickup truck."
Greg -- great idea. We won't need the wheelbarrow then.
I'm with you on BLACK SAINT. Mingus's greatest and most noirish 'soundtrack' to whatever went on inside his capacious head!
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Post by dottorjazz on Feb 24, 2015 17:46:06 GMT
dottor: i have the first non-private press of mingus at monterey, and have often considered buying the white cover version you display which was mingus' original private press. how is the sound quality? also, how can one not like black saint!? that might be my second or third favorite recording ever! but alas, it takes all kinds. alun, i'll meet you at dottor's with my friend's pickup truck. 1) Monterey sound quality: surprisingly good in quiet trio passages ( beginning of side one). listening in mono you have the perception to be among players, bass and brushes are astounding. even the vocal introduction is perfect. but, when horns come in, the sound quality gets worse. it seems that only few mikes were used so many voices are out of centre, even the soloist is not in perfect focus. I've the impression that the sound engineer couldn't manage high volumes produced in unisons and in order to avoid distortions lowered inputs too much. even bass and drums loose clarity in these passages. vocal announcement at the end of Meditations suffers the same. fidelity is lost. before finding this copy, I listened to reissues and all had the same defects. listening to the beginning of "A Train" part two, you can hear a strange sound/noise, rhythmically repetitive. I've read many years ago that it's the sound of Mingus' sandals 'cause he was stamping his feet in unison with bass lines! 2) Black Saint: I wrote I've never loved it too much. this doesn't mean I consider it bad music but it's not in my Mingus top five. Ah Um, East Coasting, Blues and Roots, CM presents CM on Candid, Dynasty. 3) pickup truck: remember to hire a couple of brawny men: heavy weight can damage your back... and: you coming' to buy or to steal?
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Post by alunsevern on Feb 25, 2015 9:21:05 GMT
" pickup truck: remember to hire a couple of brawny men: heavy weight can damage your back..."
Dott, Thanks for your consideration regarding our backs -- you're right: mine is already very bad, so I'll leave Gregory to do the heavy lifting.
"and: you coming' to buy or to steal?"
Er, let's leave it a surprise...
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Post by gregorythefish on Feb 25, 2015 15:03:37 GMT
yes, i am younger at the tender age of 27 but not much in the strength department. i have the arms of a 12-year-old girl. i'm willing to take a few years off my back's useful life for good jazz though. and as for buying or stealing... well that's all up to you as the setter of the prices isn't it? haha.
your observations about the monterey set jive with my own when listening to my copy. i think perhaps i will save my coins for records that i love with perhaps better recording value. or just... "steal/buy" yours when we figure out how to get the pickup truck all the way to italy.
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Post by alunsevern on Feb 25, 2015 18:19:53 GMT
GTF, We need a better plan. Your arms are 15 years younger than the rest of you; my back is twenty to thirty years older than the rest of me. And we've got a pick-up truck that we need to transport to Italy. There must be a better way...
Have you thought of just asking Dott for the records you'd like?
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Post by dottorjazz on Feb 25, 2015 20:57:51 GMT
Have you thought of just asking Dott for the records you'd like? looks nice: every record I'm not interested in for any reason is for sale, offers invited. I remember that over 35 years ago I used to travel with my want-list. it was the most useless way to buy records. I could't find anything from that list. then I learned a simple thing: do not search for a particular record, search among ANY record you can find. things got better. there was one particular record I was asking for in hundreds of shops: same answer everywhere. then, a couple of decades after, there it was. In the years I've learned that NO record is impossible to find: it's true that, almost always, prices are impossible, but if you want it, you can have it. another story: some years ago I was crazy for a particular edition of Ayler's Bells. I've seen it only three times in my life. I couldn't get it the first two but I got it the third. View Attachment the last I show you is the most expensive one ever bought. View Attachmentno matter how "insanely rare" (know what I mean?), these aren't on my sale list but, if you are fool enough, make an offer.
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Post by gregorythefish on Feb 26, 2015 16:13:39 GMT
alun, i fear we'll both have to become fairly wealthy and do this the old-fashioned way.
sigh.
dottor, i have a change container that surely has almost $15 in it by now, if you're looking to unload that ad-lib.
i tend to just browse and see what i find. lots of good scores have come in that way.
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Post by alunsevern on Feb 26, 2015 18:45:18 GMT
Yes, Gregory, we have been defeated by the sheer logic of Dott's argument: 'make an offer -- if we are fool enough'. I think we may be sufficiently foolish but insufficiently wealthy. And as you know, I'm something of a cheapskate: reissues, represses, even a CD if nothing else offers itself. I reckon the most I have overpaid for a record -- and then on only a couple of occasions -- is about GBP40.00. Something in my make-up prevents me going higher. Generally, what I buy is probably GBP8.00-GBP25.00. The Ayler is a beautiful object.
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Post by alunsevern on Feb 28, 2015 11:04:12 GMT
Friday 27th and Sat 28th Feb. I bunked off work early yesterday and so gained a little evening listening time. Dinner and then the first side of Grant Green's IDLE MOMENTS in the Music Matters remastered 33 series. Gloriously sensuous music, and partly a celebration because yesterday I had an email telling me that the two forthcoming MM33s I most want had just come through customs -- OUT TO LUNCH and MAIDEN VOYAGE. I confirmed my order for both.
And then on to a relatively little known and hard to find Cecil Taylor solo studio date from 1980, FLY! FLY! FLY! FLY! remastered in 24-bit on the Promising Music label.
And now, this morning, easing into them day with Ben Webster Meets Oscar Peterson (6th Nov 1959) on a very nice sounding Verve/Polydor Japanese reissue from some time in the 1980s, I imagine. Effortlessly swinging, effortlessly beautiful, even Peterson playing sparely as if in recognition that what truly matters here is the gruff, breathy lyricism of the tenor master, Webster. Ray Brown also shines on bass, it must be said, reproduced on this record with a lovely tight, woody, focused tone that sounds utterly real.
And now on to The Seagulls of Kristiansund, Mal Waldron Quintet live at the Village Vanguard on the 16th Sept 1986, on Soul Note. What a line-up this date has: Wadron on piano, Woody Shaw on trumpet, Charlie Rouse on tenor, Reggie Workman on bass, and Ed Blackwell on drums.
And from this to more Waldron -- his solo studio recording of 1972, BLUES FOR LADY DAY on alan Bates' label, Black Lion. It is interesting to note that Bates engineered beautiful solo piano recordings from both Monk and Waldron within a year of each other -- Monk in London, Waldron in Holland. Once settled in Europe, Waldron was unwilling to travel elsewhere. He could smoke almost anywhere in Europe, I have heard him say, as well as feel more valued and less discriminated against both as a jazz musician and a black man. It's a fine record, anyway.
And now something entirely different -- vol. 69 in the Polish Jazz series on the Polish Muza label, Tomasz Stanko's April 1982 recording, MUSIC 81, a darkly swinging record that for my money is the equal of any of his 90s and 2000s output for ECM. OK, it doesn't have the high sheen production values of ECM, either in sound or packaging (the cover looks as if it could have been out together hastily from a photocopy), but make no mistake this is a well recorded LP, and Stanko is in fine form, spitting out intense runs and brooding bossa-inflected melodies (especially on the wonderful opening track, Alusta. Terrific stuff. In the year it was issued this would have cost you the princely sum of 180 zloty in Poland. I know because it is printed on the back of the sleeve. This date also has a terrific pianist, Slawomir Kulpowicz, who sadly died I now find aged just 56 in 2008.
On side one Alusta is followed by Daada, which I am convinced is a sort of Stanko standard -- instantly recognisable but I'm damned if I can put my finger on where else I have heard it. I'm sure it appears on another Stanko recording somewhere, though. Aha! It suddenly came to me. It is the second track on the scandalously hard to find and under-recognised BLUISH from 1991 on (I think) the Power Brothers label, another of Stanko's Polish only releases (which features both Arild Andersen on bass and the excellent drummer, Jon Christensen.) There is another, also on Power, that I am missing -- Bossannossa. I very much want that, but it will have to be a CD, I suspect.
Side two opens with another fantastic bossa-tinged swinger, Bushka, on which Stanko blows fit to lift the roof over a deceptively simple and danceable groove.
Any Stanko fans who haven't explored the largely small label -- and Polish -- output from his pre-ECM days (although it's true that 1975's Balladyna -- with Dave Holland on bass, incidentally -- on the ECM label in fact preceded these releases) wouldn't disappointed with almost anything they might find. Perhaps the jewel in the crown -- although it is of course a quintet led by Krzysztof Komeda -- is ASTIGMATIC, vol. 5 in the Polish Jazz series, recorded in Warsaw in December 1965. The sound of t he real jazz underground.
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Post by gregorythefish on Feb 28, 2015 18:21:27 GMT
Alun, you had quiet the diverse weekend! This week I enjoyed a bit of a departure from my usual jazz habits in Oliver Nelson's "Afro/American Sketches" on Prestige. It is a reasonably affordable example of very tasteful arranging for a large band, an art that was at a loss in the early 60's. As much as I love Impulse, most of their larger band work was simply atrocious in my opinion. Nelson is a breath of fresh air.
I also had an unusually free weekend (my weekend is Friday and Saturday) and did a lot of listening.
Friday: 1) Pepper Adams Quintet on Mode: I was really excited to listen to this as I am a huge fan of the beautiful painted covers on Mode. This was a bargain, but when it arrived I realized why: it looks pretty beat up. Not one to let it get me down, I placed it on the turntable and discovered that I had an "ugly duckling" on my hands. Its true beauty is apparent only on a turntable. I can honestly play-grade this LP as M-. What a treat! Pepper Adams plays baritone like a tenor player might, and as such the low, low tones don't cause the music to weeble and wobble back and forth, if you catch my drift. Highly recommended listening! 2) Archie Shepp - "On This Night" (Impulse): I FINALLY got a nice original of this, and it is a white label promo, no less! Local store assured me that if the one faint mark was unacceptable to me, I could get a full refund. So, with nothing to lose, I purchased it. It is a real treat to hear Shepp developing the ideas from "Fire Music" into what would become "Mama Too Tight" and his later funkier offerings. And the singing is quite tasteful on one track. 3) John Coltrane - "Interstellar Space" (Impulse): This was recorded after the breakup of the classic quartet, and features only Coltrane on tenor and bells with Rashied Ali on drums. Being an Impulse completist and Coltrane apostle, I had to have it. Only when asking myself "does this sound weird without bass?" did I notice the missing bass or piano. Other than that, it works very well and sounds amazingly cohesive given the gulf of difference sonically between the roles of horns and drums in jazz. It is on the late green bullsye label, and as such might not have the sonic delicacy some collectors search for, but I love it. 4) Miles Davis - "Blue Haze" (Prestige): Every so often, fortune smiles on me and I score a great record at a great price. This is a VG++ original DG NYC Prestige that I got for maybe 1/4 market price, and it features a lot of great work by Miles in a quartet and quintet setting. His playing is subtle and cool, as he was still zeroing in on his style at this point, and that concentrated exploration is my favorite thing in jazz.
Saturday (so far): 1) Barney Kessel - "Vol 1." (Contemporary): This is an original 10'' record, which I don't have many of, but I simply ADORE them and their often very simply-stated artwork. Barney Kessel is one of the great giants of jazz guitar, and his playing is very sparse and discriminating against the waterfall of virtuosity we see from players like Kenny Burrell, Tiny Grimes, and later Joe Pass. He plays in a small quintet with West Coasters like Shelly Manne, and the delicate but driving mood is great. 2) J. Bannon - "The Blood of Thine Enemies" (Deathwish)": This is a solo EP by the vocalist in arguably my favorite hardcore band, and is a 6-minute quiet dirge of altered upright bass, piano, voice, and electronics. It sounds very organic and human in all aspects, which is what I like in my music, and may just veer the weekend away from jazz and into doom metal. Hmmm....
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Post by alunsevern on Feb 28, 2015 21:32:21 GMT
Hi Gregory,
We're both having a quite diverse weekend -- although I'm not sure mine is going to extend to doom metal. Not unless I've got a stash of doom metal records I don't know about, that is.
I said in my last post that Stanko's MUSIC 81 might be the equal of his later ECM output. Wel, I revise that opinion having just played it for the second time this evening. It may well be better -- it swings harder and has even more of that dark Slavic melancholy lyricism that Stanko does best of all.
Anyway, now on to a record I wasn't previously familiar with -- Ted Curson's TEARS FOR DOLPHY from 1964. I'm playing this on a nice Arista Freedom promo from 1975, presumably the second or third issue -- I have also seen it on Black Lion, prsumably because it was produced by Alan Bates and when he had his own label he grabbed the rights back. It's a very fine record indeed -- a piano-less quartet.
I love Shepp's ON THIS NIGHT although I only have it on a late-70s reissue. As you say, even the twentieth century modern track with vocal is quite wonderful.
I don't think I know the early Miles (Blue Haze), although it maybe one of the things I've got on one of those Prestige two-fers - I shall have to check.
The Coltrane Interstellar Space I don't really know at all.
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