Playlist Week of 3-24-12

* Rebel: Violin Sonatas (Manze/Egarr/ter Linden) (Harmonia Mundi CD)
* J.S. Bach: Violin Sonatas (Manze/Egarr/ter Linden) (Harmonia Mundi 2CD)
* Takemitsu: I Hear The Water Dreaming (BBC Symphony/Davies et al.) (DG CD)
* Takemitsu: A Flock Descends Into The Pentangonal Garden (DG CD)
* Boulez: Rituel/Eclat/Multiples (BBC Symphony/Ensemble InterContemporain) (Sony CD)
* Miles Davis: Kind Of Blue (Columbia/Legacy SACD)
* John Coltrane & Johnny Hartman: John Coltrane And Johnny Hartman (Impulse! CD)
* John Coltrane: Ballads (Impulse! CD)
* Sun Ra & His Arkestra: A Quiet Place In The Universe (Leo CD)
* Sun Ra: Solo Piano Volume 1 (Improvising Artists, Inc. CD)
* Sun Ra: St. Louis Blues: Solo Piano Volume 2 (Improvising Artists, Inc. CD)
* Pat Patrick’s Baritone Revue: Sound Advice (Saturn LP>CDR)
* Stanley Clarke: School Days (Epic/Friday Music LP)
* John Abercrombie: Cat ‘n’ Mouse (ECM CD)
* Pat Metheny Group: Imaginary Day (Warner Bros. DVD-A)
* Ingrid Laubrock Sleepthief: The Madness Of Crowds (Intakt CD)
* Tom Rainey Trio: Camino Cielo Echo (Intakt CD)
* Muddy Waters: Folk Singer (Chess/Mobile Fidelity CD)
* Emmylou Harris: Wrecking Ball (Asylum HDCD)
* Lucinda Williams: West (Lost Highway CD)
* Bob Dylan: Nashville Skyline (Columbia SACD)
* Grateful Dead: Grote Zaal De Doelen, Rotterdam, Holland 5/11/72 (GDP/Rhino 4HDCD)
* Love: Forever Changes (Elektra/Rhino CD)
* Derek And The Dominos: Layla And Other Assorted Love Songs (Polydor SACD)
* Crosby Stills & Nash: Crosby Stills & Nash (Atlantic/Audio Fidelity CD)
* Joni Mitchell: Hejira (Asylum HDCD)
* Pink Floyd: The Dark Side Of The Moon (Experience Edition) (d.1) (Pinkfloyd/EMI CD)
* Pink Floyd: Wish You Were Here (Experience Edition) (d.1) (Pinkfloyd/EMI CD)
* King Crimson: Islands (40th Anniversary Series) (DGM/Inner Knot CD/DVD)
* King Crimson: THRAK (DGM CD)†
* King Crimson: The ConstruKction Of Light (Virgin CD)†
* ProjeKct X: Heaven And Earth (DGM CD)†
* bpm&m: XtraKcts & ArtifaKcts (Papa Bear CD)†
* Fleetwood Mac: Rumours (Warner Bros. 2-45RPM LP)
* Steely Dan: Gaucho (MC DVD-A)
* Los Lobos: This Time (Hollywood/Mobile Fidelity SACD)
* Lee Ranaldo: Between The Times And The Tides (Matador LP)
* The Flaming Lips: The Soft Bulletin 5.1 (Warner Bros. CD/DVD-A)
* Beck: Sea Change (Geffen/Mobile Fidelity CD)
* Wilco: Sky Blue Sky (Nonesuch 2LP/CD)
* Radiohead: Kid A (Capitol CD)
* Radiohead: In Rainbows (TBD CD)
* Radiohead: The King Of Limbs (TBD/Ticker Tape CD)
* Porcupine Tree: The Incident (Roadrunner CD/CDEP)
* Opeth: Still Life (Peaceville/Icarus CD)(†)
* Opeth: Blackwater Park (Music For Nations/KOCH CD)†
* Opeth: Deliverance (Music For Nations/KOCH CD)†
* Opeth: Damnation (Music For Nations/KOCH CD)
* Opeth: Ghost Reveries (Roadrunner HDCD)
* Opeth: Watershed (Roadrunner CD)
* Opeth: Heritage (Deluxe Edition) (Roadrunner CD/DVD)
* Katatonia: Last Fair Deal Gone Down (10th Anniversary Edition) (Peaceville CD/CDEP)†
* Katatonia: Viva Emptiness (Peaceville CD)†
* Katatonia: The Great Cold Distance (Peaceville CD)†
* Katatonia: Night Is The New Day (Peaceville CD)†
* The Mars Volta: De-Loused In The Comatorium (Gold Standard Labs/Universal CD)
* The Mars Volta: Frances The Mute (Gold Standard Labs/Universal CD)
* Baroness: Red Album (Relapse CD)†/‡
* Baroness: Blue Record (Relapse CD)†/‡

†=iPod
‡=car

Commentary:

Although my prog/metal fixation continues unabated, I have also been trying to keep up with the out-jazz scene in New York. It ain’t easy. There’s been a bunch of good records released so far this year—but the new Tom Rainey Trio CD, Camino Cielo Echo (Intakt) is really something special. As on the first Trio album, 2010’s Pool School (Clean Feed), the master drummer is accompanied by his wife, Ingrid Laubrock, on saxophones and Mary Halvorson on guitar, two of the most innovative players on the scene. But two years is a long time in jazz; these musicians have had ample opportunities to play together (and apart) in various ensembles all over the world and this experience has culminated in a work of profound beauty. Pool School is an excellent CD—but Camino Cielo Echo is a masterpiece.

It begins with the sound: warm and intimately detailed, unusually well recorded. Then there’s the superlative musicianship combined with a telepathic, egoless empathy. This is group improvisation of the highest order—but, of course, that’s just a given with these folks. Rainey’s rhythm is elastic (to say the least), often playing three or four different time signatures (and/or free) all at once. Laubrock has carved out a uniquely personal voice in the post-Ayler continuum while Mary Halvorson continues to redefine the role of the electric guitar in contemporary music. But what makes this Camino Cielo Echo so special is that rather than sounding like a group of talented improvisers getting together for an ad hoc gig, they sound like a real band. There’s a focused intensity and sense of purpose that leaps from the speakers from the very first note. And there’s an apparent comfort level amongst the players, allowing for the kind of daring risks and wild experimentation that would likely derail a more casual session: Halvorson expands her electronic palette to include phase-shifters, ring modulation and delay; Laubrock tortures her mouthpiece; and Rainey effortlessly juggles “clouds of garbage cans.” But it always all comes together as the epitome of instant composition. Each of the thirteen highly variegated tracks is individually captivating—but the generous seventy-one minute expanse makes for an epic, inspiring listening experience. Frankly, words fail me. All I can say is Camino Cielo Echo is most highly recommended.