Visitor

Railroad Crossing, Kingston Springs

Grateful Dead: Winterland 1973

The Grateful Dead: Winterland 1973: The Complete Recordings (GDP)

About a year ago, Winterland 1973 was made available for purchase on dead.net, but then, just as suddenly as it appeared, it was removed. Credit card charges were refunded and the buzz on the Internet was fierce. It was perplexing as the flow of new product had slowed to a standstill since the controversial “merger” with Rhino in 2006 and loyal fans were hungry for something – anything - to be released. And Winterland 1973 was something for which even the most cynical Deadhead might shell out the big bucks. So, when it was pulled from the website and labeled a “hoax”, some folks were mighty annoyed – including me. What were they up to? Gauging audience response after the surprise sell-out of the limited edition Fillmore West 1969 box set? Possibly.

Now, a year later, Winterland 1973 is actually here; and it is a truly magnificent thing. This nine-CD box set is so lovingly well-done, I can easily forgive them their previous bait & switch routine. After all, 1973 is widely considered to be one of – if not the – peak of the Grateful Dead’s career (and who am I to argue?) and these shows in particular are especially prized, considered by many to be the best Dead shows EVAH. Maybe so.

The passing of Pigpen (who was, from the start, if not the leader, then the soul of the band) barely slowed the band’s momentum that had been building since the Fall of 1971 with the introduction of Keith Godchaux on piano (and, for better or worse, his wife Donna Jean on vocals). New songs like “Eyes of the World” and Weir’s “Weather Report Suite” were taking the music in overtly jazzy, harmonically complex directions while primal, modal standards like “Playing in the Band”, “Dark Star” and “The Other One” were evolving into symphonic-length tours de force of collective improvisation and brain-melting psychedelia.

Indeed, Winterland 1973 presents an exquisite three-night run on the Dead’s home turf in San Francisco and, yes, it really is about as consistently good – no, downright mindblowing – a run of shows as they ever played. Anyone with even a passing familiarity with the Grateful Dead knows that consistency was never their forte. One had to take the good with the bad on any given night, and it was the moments of magic (and the promise of more) that kept the Deadheads coming back night after night. Here, the band sounds supremely confident from the get-go: relaxed, unfussy, yet highly polished – heck, even the cornball “El Paso” is performed with subtlety and finesse. Extraordinarily tight when they need to be, yet willing and able to “take it out” at any moment - this is the Grateful Dead at their most expansive, dynamic, and synergistic. Phil Lesh once characterized the Grateful Dead as “electric chamber music” and these three concerts surely epitomize this ideal.

Despite the somewhat constricted repertoire of the time, each concert has its own particular flavor with 11/9 easing into things with a focus on songs rather than big blow-out jams, while 11/10 features the brilliantly executed palindrome of “Playing in the Band>Uncle John’s Band>Morning Dew>Uncle John’s Band>Playing in the Band.” Of course, 11/11 is already widely circulated amongst tape traders and is considered one of the all-time-great shows with its incredible “Dark Star>Eyes of the World>China Doll” sequence deep in the second set. It doesn’t get much better than this, folks – even with the unfortunate reel-flip during “Eyes.”

Recorded on the fly by roadie Bill “Kidd” Candelario using a splitter and a ¼” Nagra reel-to-reel, the sound quality is stunningly good, given the circumstances. The mastering process utilizes a remarkable new software program called Clarity, developed by Plangent Processes in Nantucket, Massachusetts. The program identifies and corrects timing errors as with the inevitable (and sometimes disastrous) wow-and-flutter problems that occur with analog tape, thereby restoring the music’s proper timing and pitch. Compared to the version of 11/9/73 that previously circulated amongst Deadheads, the Clarity process is truly miraculous.

The three shows, each in a deluxe gatefold sleeve, are housed in a psychedelic “cigar” box along with a replica 1960s-era “Good Old Grateful Dead” button and a facsimile of a “Deadheads Newsletter” circa. 1973. When you open all the gatefold sleeves, you can assemble a large version of the very trippy “eye-ball” cover image. Nice. Oh, and this time, the “bonus disc” really does feel like a bonus, consisting of most of the second set from Cincinnati, OH 12/4/73, including an outrageous, teeth-grindingly intense space jam. While I wouldn’t recommend this to the merely curious, if you’re a hardcore fan, then Winterland 1973 is well worth the $100.00 asking price.

--rgc

King Crimson: Belcourt Theatre, Nashville, TN 8/2/08

1. [drum duo]
2. ConstruKction Of Light
3. Level Five
4. Neurotica
5. Three of a Perfect Pair
6. Indiscipline
7. Frame By Frame
8. Dinosaur
9. One Time
10. Sex Sleep Eat Drink Dream
11. B'boom
12. Elephant Talk
13. Red
14. [drum duo]
15. Thela Hun Ginjeet
16. The Talking Drum
17. Larks' Tongues In Aspic II

Encore:
18. Sleepless
19. VROOOM/Coda: Marine 475

Adrian Belew: guitar, vocal
Robert Fripp: guitar
Tony Levin: bass, stick, vocal
Pat Masteletto: drums, percussion, electronic percussion
Gavin Harrison: drums, percussion

Folks from all over the world descended upon the tiny Belcourt Theatre for the first King Crimson concerts since 2004, a “warm-up” for the upcoming 40th Anniversary Tour. As we made our way into the tiny theatre and noticed the two enormous drum sets that dominated the stage, Liz remarked, “It’s going to be loud, isn’t it!” Yep. We were in for a pummeling.

The performance itself was exciting, but also predictably rusty, with several near-trainwrecks preventing the music from ever truly taking flight. Nevertheless, there were moments of hair-raising intensity, terrifying displays of raw power, and glimpses of sublime beauty. Highlights for me included newcomer Gavin Harrison’s jaw-droppingly complex drum fills on “Indiscipline”, an achingly tender version of “One Time”, and Tony Levin’s relentless groove on “Sleepless.”

As for the Venal Leader himself, Robert Fripp, he has taken to hiding behind a large stack of equipment, rendering himself virtually invisible to the audience. From our vantage point, we were able to watch his fretting hand if he was playing down by the nut and, occasionally, we could see the top of his head as he made adjustments to his gear or a foot pressing a pedal. He further made a point of exiting the stage from behind a scrim and refusing to come out from behind his rack for a bow with the rest of the band at the conclusion of the performance. Now, Mr. Fripp’s aversion to photography is well known and if these kinds of defensive maneuvers allow him enough peace of mind to continue performing, then so be it; after all, we’re there to listen more than to see (although seeing is nice, too). But this behavior makes even Miles Davis’s notoriously hostile stage persona seem downright gregarious and it’s difficult not to read it as utter contempt for the audience. And yet, a recent diary entry indicates that, despite all appearances, Mr. Fripp doesn’t take himself too seriously.

In any event, the tactics seemed to work: I saw no photography, audio/video recording, or cell phone abuse and that alone was welcome indeed. In fact, the audience was rapturous and the rest of the musicians seemed to be having a pretty good time. So, whatever. I was grateful to be there and Fripp’s guitar playing was typically brilliant, combining raging shards of metallic bombast with delicately intricate flatpicking and otherworldly high-tech textures, sometimes all within the same song. Too bad we couldn’t see him.

I’ll be curious to see if the setlist varies at all over the course of the tour. I suspect the band will work out the kinks and the larger venues should allow the full power and fury of this version of the band to fully blossom. Happy 40th Birthday KC!

--rgc

Now Playing: Morton Feldman

Morton Feldman: The Viola In My Life I-IV (ECM)

Cikada Ensemble
Norwegian Radio Orchestra
Marek Konstantynowicz, viola
Christian Eggen, conductor

This series of compositions was written for violist Karen Phillips in 1970-1971 and signaled Morton Feldman’s transition away from indeterminacy and the overt influence of John Cage and towards precise notation and the development of his own singular and recognizably mature style. Indeed, parts of Number I contain the seeds of the monumental, multi-hour works of the 1980s: a two note figure with chiming accompaniment gently oscillates without exactly repeating itself before trailing off into silence. However, these pieces remain somewhat unique in Feldman’s oeuvre for their explicit, almost conventional melodicism. Number IV, an orchestratral "translation" of the chamber pieces that precede it, goes even further afield: there is a moment of swelling, voluptuously expectant tonality wherein Feldman’s seemingly incongruous affection for Sibelius becomes strikingly audible.

During this period, Feldman sought to use such elements as singing melodies and (non)functional harmony in the way his friend, Robert Rauschenberg, utilized photography on his canvases, in order to introduce “perspective” to the “flatness” and “stasis” of his music, but later abandoned this kind of literalism (“in music, it just doesn’t work the same way,” he remarked in 1980) [FN1]. And yet, these melodic and quasi-tonal fragments succeed in unsentimentally evoking a memory of a lost past, a role the viola plays again to great effect in Feldman’s contemporaneous masterpiece, Rothko Chapel (1971). Accordingly, these pieces are some of Feldman’s most immediately accessible and downright likable works and, therefore, an excellent entry point into Feldman’s sometimes forbiddingly austere sound world [FN2]. Highly recommended.

--rgc

+++

[FN1]: Morton Feldman Says: Selected Interviews and Lectures 1964-1987, ed. by Chris Villars, London: Hyphen Press, 2006, p.91. See also Give My Regards to Eighth Street: Collected Writings of Morton Feldman, ed. By B.H. Friedman, Cambridge: Exact Change, 2000, pp.90-91.

[FN2]: Of course, Feldman himself would disapprove of such an approach. In a 1972 interview, he characteristically stated: “I could have had big performances of The Viola In My Life in Berlin. But I didn’t. The trouble is that they’ll like it. They must earn the right to like it by getting to know my earlier works first. I want them to forget their background and their education.” (Morton Feldman Says, p.44.) Nevertheless, such elitism is not necessarily very helpful to the novice listener.

Keeping Up With Robert Pollard (June 2008 edition)

Robert Pollard Is Off To Business (GBV, Inc. CD/LP)

Robert Pollard Is Off to Business is a straight-up pop LP that should make all fans of the prolific, beer-soaked genius rejoice. Producer/multi-instrumentalist Todd Tobias concocts a gorgeously convincing classic-rock soundbed upon which Pollard delivers an especially committed vocal performance, making this immediately enjoyable right from the shrinkwrap. Anthemic singalongs, creamy ballads, punky jumpers, poppy prog rock – this album has it all while Pollard’s oblique songwriting commands repeated listenings. However, at barely 35 minutes, Off To Business would have been further improved with the inclusion of the equally excellent B-sides found on the “Weatherman and Skingoddess” EP. Regardless, I would highly recommend this one, even to the merely curious. LP is limited to 500 copies.

+++

The year-long Happy Jack Rock Records singles series finally came to a close last month with “Miles Under the Skin”/”Frostman (long version)”. “Frostman” first appeared as a mere fragment on 2001’s Isolation Drills (TVT), but is presented here in complete form. An achingly nostalgic ballad as only Pollard can write, this is a poignant end to this ambitious project.

+++

So, what’s next in Bobland? Well, this oddity was just announced this week:

Carbon Whales: South EP/7” (Happy Jack Rock Records). This is a Bob SPONSORED release. The Carbon Whales are an obscure band from the late 70s that actor Paddy Considine turned Bob on to. The 4 songs on this EP are apparently the only things they ever recorded. It was never released. Bob really loved it so we tracked the band down and asked if we could release it. The singer sounds EXACTLY like Bob. Check out the song writing team of Bob Evans and Joustin Clark.

Hmmm. I’m suspicious. Bob Evans? This sounds to me like another pseudonymous release a la Nightwalker. On a hunch, I pre-ordered the 7”. Available exclusively from Rockathon.

More concretely, Bob has formed a new band with Chris Slusarenko and John Moen called Boston Spaceships. They will release a CD/LP, Brown Submarine (GBV, Inc.), on September 9th and then hit the road for a tour. Far out! This will be Bob’s first live performances (except for a handful of one-offs) since 2006. Boston Spaceships will play Nashville on October 18th and I hope to be there. Preview an mp3 of “Go for the Exit” here.

--rgc

Now Playing: Evan Parker

Evan Parker/Transatlantic Art Ensemble: Boustrophedon (in Six Furrows) (ECM)

Evan Parker: soprano saxophone; Roscoe Mitchell: alto & soprano saxophones; Anders Svanoe: alto saxophone; John Rangecroft: clarinet; Neil Metcalfe: flute; Corey Wilkes: trumpet, flugelhorn; Nils Bultmann: viola; Philipp Wachsmann: violin; Marcio Mattos: cello; Craig Taborn: piano; Jaribu Shahid: double-bass; Barry Guy: double-bass; Tani Tabbal: drums, percussion; Paul Lytton: drums, percussion

Recorded live at Muffathalle, Munich in September, 2004.

This is an essential companion to Roscoe Mitchell’s brilliant Composition/Improvisation Nos. 1, 2 &3 (ECM) which I wrote about here. Same extraordinary musicians, but this time featuring Evan Parker’s music. Keep in mind that Parker has long been a standard bearer for “total music” or pure free improvisation - and the concomitant disdain for composition that this implies [FN1]. So it is interesting to hear him taking a dip into the Third Stream with substantial portions of fully notated material and tightly controlled improvisations. As such, Boustrophedon is unique in Parker’s massive discography and worth hearing for that fact alone.

Parker adopts some of the strategies that Mitchell used to marshal the large-ish forces of the Transatlantic Art Ensemble such as prelude-like themes, conducted tutti figures, groupings and sub-groupings of individual instruments, and climaxes built on the staggered entry of simultaneous soloists. There are even moments of swingin’ timekeeping. But the music remains uniquely Parker’s, even if his horn is often silent. Comparing the two releases, it is striking how adept these musicians are at realizing the creator’s intentions while still retaining their own individuality and free expression. Manfred Eicher’s live sound manipulations give the proceedings an otherworldly (if sometimes murky) ambience, in keeping, I suppose, with Parker’s Electroacoustic Ensemble recordings on ECM, though I might have preferred Steve Lake’s clarity and transparency of texture as found on Mitchell’s disc. Sonic quibbles aside, this is an exceptional recording.

--rgc


[FN1]: The partisan Free Jazz Blog repudiates both records for apostasy here.

Now Playing: Anthony Braxton

Anthony Braxton: Nine Compositions (DVD) 2003 (Rastascan)

Anthony Braxton: reeds; Liz Allbee: trumpet, electronics; Kyle Bruckmann: oboe, English horn, etc.; Taylor Ho Bynum: cornet, flugelhorn, etc.; Greg Kelly: trumpet etc.; Matt Ingalls: clarinet, bass clarinet, violin; Dan Plonsey: reeds, violin; Gino Robair: percussion, etc.; Scott Rosenberg: reeds; Jay Rozen: tuba, electronics, etc.; Sara Schoenbeck: bassoon; John Shiurba: guitars, banjo; Justin Yang: reeds,
etc.

Rastascan gives Braxton the deluxe treatment with over six hours of PCM audio at better-than-CD resolution (24 bit/48 KHz) on one standard DVD [FN1]. This expansive format suits Braxton’s prolific nature, documenting (with startlingly high fidelity) a mere three days of activity. The disc contains a complete 12tet concert at the Victoria Theatre in San Francisco from December 11, 2003 and an additional four hours of studio recordings from December 12th & 13th. That’s a lot of music.

What’s interesting about this recording is that Braxton’s large ensemble works of a recent vintage (Compositions 322, 327 & 328) appear side-by-side with much older pieces performed by trio and quartet (Compositions 23e, 72h, 74e & 75). Hearing these earlier compositions in this expanded context sheds some light on the mysterious goings-on of the Ghost Trance Musics (GTM). One of the key components of GTM is its collage-in-performance aspect wherein any part of Braxton’s enormous oeuvre can appear (either spontaneously or by design), played by any instrument and some of these early compositions can be heard, if fleetingly, within the GTM performances. Listening to these older pieces in situ also confirms that Braxton’s music has always been abstract, ambitious, and contingent on sympathetic interpreters. For Braxton, composition is more than merely notation as an end itself, but a means to guide improvisation. As the hour-plus long GTM compositions unfold, an astonishingly diverse and limitless music gushes forth from the musicians, who are all clearly inspired by Braxton’s admonishment to “kick it about, have some fun” [FN2] and totally dedicated to giving these pieces a proper performance - which means improvising with both force and empathy within the vast realm of Braxton’s complex written material. The inclusion here of two earlier GTM compositions (Compositions 190 & 292) demonstrates that, given committed performances by capable musicians, GTM can yield music of extraordinary richness and complexity.

Nine Compositions (DVD) 2003 is an essential document and an excellent introduction to Braxton’s unique musical vision. Highly recommended.

--rgc

[FN1]: Everybody knows that the recording industry is in the dumps and everybody knows the myriad reasons for this sad state of affairs. What I don’t understand is why the recording industry has refused to take advantage of the DVD format with its better-than-CD sound unbounded by the 80 minute track limit. Sure, DVD-Audio and/or SACD have even higher resolution and sound better, but the standard DVD supports a stereo PCM track that can be played on any DVD player - you can have video too! The CD is dying (if not already dead); please give us something better. /end of rant.

[FN2]: Taken from the rehearsals for this disc, the full quote is instructive regarding Braxton’s aims with GTM: “Don’t worry about playing everything perfect. It’s not even about that; we’ll just do the best we can do. Kick it about, have some fun, try to work together. That’s what I’m interested in: the concept of the group as a family…where the musicians are working together, looking out for one another.” (From the liner notes).

i-Pod Blog

Here’s a terrific blog that virtually writes itself: What I Listed To On My Way To Work Today. This pseudonymous NYC-area commuter has a forty-five-minute to one-hour one-way trip to work via mass transit. So he takes his fully loaded i-Pod, puts it on shuffle and tabulates what transpires, adding commentary as necessary or so inspired. Sometimes he posts camera-phone photos and random factoids about his journey. Brilliant! It helps that he has fairly catholic tastes, including jazz and other esoteric music amidst the indie-rock – he even admits to one-time Deadheadom. My kind of guy. But, what I really want to know is: what does he listen to on his way home?

I hope he keeps it up – over time it could make for a wonderful book.

--rgc

Kansas City

While visiting family in Kansas City last week, Liz & I had a chance to re-visit the Nelson-Atkins Museum and check out the new Bloch Building: a radical - yet breathtakingly beautiful - piece of architecture. Sheathed in walls of glass, the Bloch Building somehow seamlessly integrates itself with the original building’s 1920s-era traditional monumentality (pictured) while still asserting a supremely modern and functional aesthetic.

The Bloch Building also houses the contemporary collection, which include works from some of our very favorite painters: Rothko, DeKooning, Kline, Diebenkorn, and four (4!) by Wayne Thiebaud. Lunch at the Rozzelle Court Restaurant in the “old” building was quite elegant as were the newly-renovated galleries. The whole place is first class all the way. And get this: admission is free (though we did make a donation).

The New York Times gave the Bloch Building a rave review upon its opening last June and another nice article and many great photographs of the complex was featured at arcspace. Even more photographs can be found at Steven Holl Architects.

I wish we could have seen the building at night, glowing against the sculpture garden; it really is a stunningly gorgeous campus.

--rgc

Keeping Up With Robert Pollard

Robert Pollard: Superman Was a Rocker (Happy Jack Rock Records CD/LP) So, Bob goes rummaging through the infamous Suitcase and finds some old cassette tapes containing instrumental tracks and goofy snippets of audio verité recorded over the past 20 years with various versions of Guided By Voices. Then he takes these tapes over to Todd Tobias’s studio and overdubs vocals and, voila, a new EP - 13 songs in 30 minutes. Billed as “the most FUN Bob album in a year.” Well, initially I didn’t think it was very fun at all; in fact, I thought it was merely more tossed-off junk on par with such abominations as Acid Ranch or The Howling Wolf Orchestra. Don’t get me wrong, being a devout and penitent fan, I actually enjoy Pollard’s abominations and tossed-off junk for what it is. Even so, I couldn’t help but feel a little disappointed. But, as is usually the case with any new Pollard record, after several listens I began to appreciate Superman’s eccentricities. Nevertheless, “Love Your Spaceman” is the closest thing to a straightforward pop song on here and, while some of the “skits” are hilarious, I can only recommend this to completists like myself. LP is limited to 500 copies.

Psycho & the Birds: We’ve Moved (Happy Jack Rock Records CD/LP) Psycho & the Birds is a relatively recent conception wherein Pollard records songs to a primitive boombox (which is his usual songwriting modus operandi) and sends the tapes to Tobias for instrumentation. The previous All That Is Holy LP (FCS #41) and Check Your Zoo EP (FCS #43) contain some wonderful songs, but they sound a bit too much like the demos they ultimately are; several of those songs wound up, in more fully fleshed out form and with sometimes different titles, on later “official” records. On We’ve Moved, Tobias takes it up a notch and grandly orchestrates these little gems in inventive and compelling ways. For example, on “Corona Grande”, Tobias alternates what sounds like samples of Pollard and Elvis Presley combined with a nifty riff that manages to make this nothing of a song into a charming bit of pure pop. The whole record is full of moments like this and, if these be demos, then all the better – bring on the final product! This may not be for everyone, but if you’re a fan, it is essential. LP is limited to 500 copies.

The Takeovers: “Little Green Onion Man” EP (Off Records/HJRR CD/7”) The long-delayed “Little Green Onion Man” EP was worth the wait for those of us who appreciate the Takeovers’ brand of psychedelic cock-rock and this EP makes a fine companion to last year’s Bad Football (Off). The brainchild of former GBV bassist Chris Slusarenko, the music is, as you would expect, bass-centric and groove-oriented which makes for a change of pace from Tobias’s sometimes monolithic constructions. It’s sorta nice to hear Pollard in this setting, where rocking out is of primary importance and pretensions of any sort are held in check. As a result, of course, nothing really new is happening here and, to me, Pollard sounds slightly bored with it all. Still, this is an enjoyable romp if you don’t think too much about it. Both the CD and the 7” are limited to 950 copies, of which the first 500 7-inchers are hand-numbered - perfect for record-collector geeks and only available from the website.

Robert Pollard: “Weatherman and Skin Goddess” EP (GBV, Inc. 1-1 CD/12”) Here’s a preview of Pollard’s next “official” album on yet another new label, Robert Pollard Is Off To Business, due on June 22nd. On “Weatherman”, Pollard and Tobias explore the sort of multi-part epic art-rock they began in earnest with on the wonderful Silverfish Trivia EP (Prom Is Coming). Pollard sounds particularly engaged and his singing is superb. If this song is any indication, Off To Business will be a real winner. Two equally excellent B-sides (“Kiss the Quiet Man” and “Chat Factory Zero”) make this an especially delightful EP and definitely leaves me wanting more. The CD is limited to 1000 copies and the 12” is limited to 500 copies. Another Off to Business preview, “Gratification to Concrete”, is available as an MP3 here.

++++++++++

The year-long Happy Jack Rock Records singles series is finally winding down with the final volume due at the end of next month. As with previous volumes, the B-sides range from the sublime (“Speak Again”, which appeared in instrumental form as “Speak In many Colors” on Silverfish Trivia) to the ridiculous (“Battle For Mankind 2”) with some minor gems (“Street Velocity”) and random oddities (“Revolver Tricks” sung by Stanley West – who?) in between. It’s been fun getting these in the mail every month or so, but I have to say the pressings have left a lot to be desired: almost all of them are off-center to one degree or another making for sometimes queasy listening. The promised CD of the B-sides will definitely be worth having if only for the stable intonation.

+++++++++++

Keeping up with Robert Pollard is neither easy nor inexpensive, but it’s a lot of fun for the fan. God bless him. The release of Robert Pollard Is Off To Business in June will coincide with the publication of Town of Mirrors: The Reassembled Imagery of Robert Pollard (Fantagraphics), a collection of Pollard’s collages and album cover art based upon his NYC gallery debut last year. After that, things appear to be tapering off until a new Circus Devils album, Ataxia, due in the fall. I can’t wait.

--rgc

Happy Record Store Day!

I made my way over to Grimey’s around 11:30 this morning since I didn’t want to miss out on the 20% off sale. The place was packed! The queue for the cash register stretched all the way across the store and took almost thirty minutes to get through. Nevertheless, everyone was happy to be there. The vast majority of folks, young and old, seemed to be purchasing new vinyl records which I thought was interesting. Myself, I took advantage of the sale to pick up the Sly & the Family Stone reissues on Sundazed. Gorgeous packaging and nicely pressed, these LPs look and sound fantastic.

Rain put a little bit of a damper on the outdoor festivities while I was there. I would have enjoyed hunting through the $1 bins, but I figured I had already done enough damage as it was. I did have a Yazoo Pale Ale before heading out (yum!).

Fun!

UPDATE: This article from yesterday's New York Times is worth reading.

UPDATE 2: Finished the day watching High Fidelity, possibly the ultimate record store movie. The book, by Nick Hornby, is even better.

--rgc

April 19th is Record Store Day!

Record Store Day is an attempt to get independent record stores together to promote themselves as an alternative to big-box chain stores. My personal favorite local indie record store, Grimey’s, will be having a big party all day with DJs, bands, beer, and food – and lots and lots of records on sale. Sounds like a good time to me!

I’ve always loved record stores and they’re the only places really that I’ve ever become a “regular” – you know, go in at least weekly, the staff know me, etc. While I still miss Tower for its breadth and depth (particularly with jazz and classical music), it was never as much fun as going to Grimey’s. Unlike a lot of record stores, with their aloof disdain for the unhip customer, the folks at Grimey’s are super-friendly and, more importantly, helpful to all comers. They are always totally psyched to help you find the music that you get off on. Righteous!

Sure, I order a lot of stuff online when I can’t find it elsewhere, but, if I can, I try to buy my records at Grimey’s simply because I just love hanging out in record stores. If you find yourself out and about on Saturday, swing by your local indie record store and buy something (there will be bargains!) to show your support for Record Store Day!

--rgc

Now Playing: Spring Heel Jack

Spring Heel Jack: Songs & Themes (Thirsty Ear/Blue Series, 2008)

Roy Campbell, Jr.: trumpet, pocket trumpet, flugelhorn, flute
John Coxon: guitars, bass, samples, violin, glockenspiel
Ashley Wales: samples
John Tchicai: saxophones, bass clarinet
John Edwards: bass
Tony Marsh: drums
Orphy Robinson: vibraphone
J. Spaceman: guitar (tr. 9 & 12)
Mark Sanders: drums (tr. 7)
Rupert Clervaux: drums (tr. 8)

It may appear that today’s Spring Heel Jack has little to do with their roots in the UK jungle/drum’n’bass scene of the 1990s, but their relationship to so-called “jazz” was always at least implicit. There are moments on 68 Million Shades (Island, 1996) and Busy Curious Thirsty (Island, 1997) where the mechanized beats subside and a pregnant space is opened up in the music that might be filled with, say, a breathy saxophone. Nowadays, the beats have been dispensed with altogether and the music is made up entirely of those open spaces.

Admittedly, Songs and Themes is not the bracing amalgam of cool electronics and free-jazz skronk found on the brilliant Masses (Thirsty Ear/Blue Series, 2001) or Amassed (Thirsty Ear/Blue Series, 2002), but this may be their most listenable record yet. Behind this hideously drab cover lies music of rare beauty.

Sure, it’s all atmosphere and much of it sounds a little bit like what ECM was doing in 1970s (minus the cavernous reverb), but that’s OK with me. I have always believed "fusion" was worth pursuing, regardless of its obvious failures. Sometimes, this record is just the right tonic: lush textures, tasteful contributions from all the musicians (notably, the sensitive hornplay of Roy Campbell and John Tchicai and the restrained feedback psychedelia of J. Spaceman), and there’s enough harmonic adventurousness to reward close, repeated listening. What’s not to like?

Even Liz especially enjoys this one and recommendations don’t come any higher than that!

--rgc

King Crimson in Nashville

I love living in Nashville.

I knew King Crimson was going to re-configure and tour the U.S. this summer and I knew, because frontman/guitarist, Adrian Belew, lives in nearby Mt. Juliet, that any rehearsals (and recordings) would likely take place there. It was also likely that KC would likely play some “warmup” shows in Nashville before heading out on tour. What was surprising was how easy it was to get tickets: only $25 – general admission! Wahoo!

The Belcourt Theatre is a tiny, 300-seat movie theatre in Hillsboro Village that has recently taken to hosting live music events and, needless to say, this will be an intensely intimate environment in which to witness the ferocious beauty of King Crimson.

Let’s just hope no one tries to take a photograph; leader/guitarist Robert Fripp is notorious for walking off stage at the first flash. Then again, for only $25, the spectacle would be worth it. [UPDATE: just kidding!!!]

--rgc

Now Playing: Sun Ra

Sun Ra & His Arkestra: Some Blues But Not the Kind That’s Blue (Atavistic UMS 265)

Recorded 10/14/77
Reissue of Saturn LP 101477 (1978)

Atavistic deserves our unending gratitude for continuing to make available to us poor, stranded Earthlings more delightful batches of rare Sun Ra obscurities via John Corbett’s “Unheard Music Series.” Hot on the heels of last year’s reissue of Strange Strings and Night of the Purple Moon (both of which are essential), comes Some Blues But Not the Kind That’s Blue. Ostensibly a set of “standards” (with a couple of Ra originals thrown in), these renditions are so abstracted and downright weird that it’s clear only Sun Ra could have conceived of these hoary old chestnuts in quite this way. For example, “My Favorite Things” manages to escape an easy comparison to John Coltrane’s iconic take by relaxing the rhythm, spicing it with Latin-ish percussion, and spacing out the harmonies. “Nature Boy” unfolds as a brooding, rhapsodic vehicle for piano and woodwinds that barely hints at the overly-familiar melody. What’s amazing is that, no matter how “straight-ahead” this music might appear on the surface, it’s always still a little bit “out” – and that’s one of the interesting things about Sun Ra’s music. As weird as it sometimes gets, it’s never too far removed from the blues and jazz syntax.

Another thing that fascinates me about Sun Ra’s Saturn LPs (which were, for the most part, hand-made artifacts) is that, despite - maybe even because of - the poor sound quality, the records are deeply affecting. I find this fascinating because I consider myself, if not an audiophile (because I am not wealthy), at least someone who cares a lot about sound quality. When I encounter poor fidelity, I’m not likely to keep listening unless there is some very compelling reason. Life is too short for bad sound! But with Sun Ra, it’s different; the off-kilter soundstages often result in delightfully fortuitous sonic effects and the overall atmosphere is intensely intimate, surreptitious (almost voyeuristic) and downright magical, like capturing lightning in a bottle. (It also occurs to me that this same phenomenon occurs with Robert Pollard’s lo-fi recordings, which effectively evoke the long-lost era of “classic rock” and Beatles bootlegs, but that is another subject altogether.)

It’s not that Some Blues… sounds bad; it just has that “Saturn Sound.” Like many Saturn LPs, this one was recorded in rehearsal, lending the proceedings a casual, spontaneous quality which suits these restructured standards. But, as with most all of Sun Ra’s output, this is not an ad-hoc or amateurish affair. Rather, this is serious and committed music - it was just recorded in an ad-hoc, amateurish way and, rather than repelling the listener, manages to draw you in and only adds to its considerable charm.

The bonus tracks are a nice touch, especially the untitled Ra composition recorded at the same session and the two additional takes of “I’ll Get By” recorded in 1973 provide some insight into the band’s varied approaches to this otherwise unremarkable tune. Corbett notes in the liner notes: “In the distance, the muffled remnant of a previous track appears, taped over on this home recording, the almost in-sync backwards drums providing a low-key element of surreality.” Perfect - just the kind of lucky accident that is so pervasive in Sun Ra’s extensive discography.

Wonderful stuff.

--rgc

Now Playing: Grateful Dead Road Trips

After an avalanche of archival releases from 1995 to 2005, things went dark in Grateful Dead-land in 2006. The “Vault” was licensed to Rhino and the soundboard recordings (which had circulated freely for years) were unceremoniously removed from archive.org, leaving much bitterness behind. Even the (way overpriced) download series came to a grinding halt. There were no new releases for an entire year and it was looking like the deal with Rhino was going to be all about “greatest hits” compilations sold at Starbucks. Egads.

In 2007, new releases began trickling out again. First up was Live at the Cow Palace: New Year’s Eve 1976, a nicely packaged but not particularly revelatory selection (after all, the FM broadcast had circulated forever). Then, several months later, Three from the Vault, a beautifully recorded but rather tentative and sleepy performance from 12/18/71, which had been slated for release way back in 1993, but for mysterious reasons was shelved. If Three from the Vault had been released as planned, it would have been a big deal at the time; by 2007, its sudden appearance smacked of desperation and a total lack of imagination. To make matters worse, “The Taper’s Section” suddenly converted from mp3 downloads to a streaming-only service, annoying fans who had come to enjoy the already lo-fi samples that archivist David Lemiuex uploaded from the “Vault” every Monday morning.

Then, just before Christmas, this new Road Trips series was announced – to much consternation. These (seemingly) quarterly, mail-order only releases seek to compile the “best” tracks from a handful of shows from a specific tour and, as such, they are a bit frustrating for the hardcore fan. It’s “The Taper’s Section” on disc – and, by comparison, hideously expensive. We Deadheads want complete concerts – warts and all – and there is a good reason for that. A Dead show was way more than the sum of its songs; it had an arc, it told a story. Like life itself, it had its ups and downs, but, in the end, it was the journey itself that made the whole thing worthwhile. Or something like that.

But, hey, I’m not a purist about it. Compilations can sometimes be very satisfying. For example, Stepping Out with The Grateful Dead, which summarizes the 1972 UK shows across four CDs, and Go to Nassau, a compilation from three nights at Nassau Coliseum in 1980 on two discs, are both highly enjoyable. Heck, Live Dead and Europe ‘72 are classic albums!

Unfortunately, what we have with Road Trips is a selection of (mostly) great music shoehorned onto two CDs. But wait! If you order right now, you also get a “free bonus disc!” What’s with the “bonus disc” stuff? Just make a three-disc set and do it well! Sheesh!

So, anyway, what do we have here?

Vol.1, No.1: Fall ‘79 No doubt about it, Fall 1979 was an excellent, but not well-documented, period for the Dead. Keyboardist Brent Mydland replaced Keith Godchaux in April, 1979, and was fully integrated into the Dead gestalt by the fall tour. Brent was willing to go as far out there as the rest of them and the band was clearly reinvigorated by his energy and musicianship. Some quibble with his bell-like Rhodes piano sound during this period (personally, I love it), but there is no doubt that he was a master of the Hammond B-3 organ, whose lush and swirly textures had been missing from the Dead’s sound since Pigpen’s demise in the early 1970s. The net result is a band that was more professional and polished (some might say downright slick) but still willing to jump off into extended improvisation at the drop of a hat. The “bonus” disc demonstrates this nicely with an outrageous jam out of “Saint of Circumstance” (of all things) from 11/8/79 and a middle-eastern flavored jam out of “He’s Gone” from 11/9/79.

Other highlights include Disc 1’s “Dancing in the Street>Franklin’s Tower” also from 11/9/79 with Brent’s super-funky chicken-scratching clavinet (actually Prophet 5 synth) and Disc 2’s “Shakedown Street” from 11/25/79 is a monster second-set opener with Garcia pealing off one incredible riff after another. And the “Terrapin Station>Playing in the Band” from 11/6/79 is truly epic.

So, what’s to complain about? I mean, it’s all really good stuff, but, out of context, it’s a little rich, maybe too much too fast. Note also that these recordings were made direct from the soundboard to a humble cassette by soundman Dan Healy and suffer from the inevitable anomalies and imbalances (i.e vocals way up front, drums distant, a dry and airless acoustic, etc.). Listenable, but caveat emptor!

Vol.1, No.2: October ’77 1977 was a good year. With second drummer/percussionist Mickey Hart successfully reintegrated into the band after the “hiatus” of 1975, with a return to touring in 1976, and with a half-way credible attempt at a studio album with 1977’s Terrapin Station, the Dead were (for the time being) well-rehearsed, finely tuned, and firing on all cylinders. To top it off, Betty Cantor-Jackson expertly recorded every show to a state-of-the-art Nagra reel-to-reel so, unlike Vol.1 No. 1, these discs sound mighty fine indeed.

This release is mostly made up of 10/6/77, which I’d never heard before, so that’s nice. Disc 1 ends with the exploratory “Help on the Way>Slipknot!>Franklin’s Tower” sequence from 10/11/77 which has always been a favorite version. Disc 2 cleverly grafts 10/14/77’s “Playing in the Band” and encore onto 10/6/77’s post-drums sequence and it actually works pretty well. But, once again, the real action is to be found on the so-called “bonus disc” with an unusual “Scarlet Begonias>Fire on the Mountain” (also from 10/6/77) which features Mickey on talking drum and the entire post-drums sequence from 10/7/77 which opens with a gracefully loping (and, at the time, rare) performance of the New Orleans anthem, “Iko Iko.”

Again, I have no complaints about the music itself, it’s just that I’m unlikely to pull these out and listen to them again beginning to end. On the other hand, I have enjoyed having these things loaded on my iPod to listen to in the car, where I do not have the time or attentiveness to listen to complete shows anyway. In that way, the “best of” aspect suits that particular listening environment pretty nicely. Maybe these would make a better downloads than CDs, if the price was right. Either way, I’m willing to hang in there with them, for I am an unrepentant Deadhead.

+++

Now, this is more like it: The fabled Winterland 1973 box set is finally coming out. Three complete shows (11/9-10-11/73) on nine CDs. It’s definitely a bit pricey at $100 + shipping, but these are justifiably legendary concerts, of which only 11/11 circulates in decent sound quality. I have, of course, happily pre-ordered my copy.

--rgc

Golf: "A Good Walk Spoiled"

Spring is here and I took advantage of the beautiful weather to play nine holes at Cliff View Golf Course right here in Kingston Springs. I had one honest-to-god par but the rest was pure hackery and lost golf balls. But hey, it's been a long time since I swung a golf club. In any event, it felt good to be out in the sunshine.

(The quote above is attributed to Mark Twain, but has never been verified as far as I know.)

--rgc

Wilco: Ryman Auditorium, Nashville, TN 3/2/08

1. Via Chicago
2. Blood of the Lamb
3. Pieholden Suite
4. California Stars
5. Company In My Back
6. You Are My Face
7. Side With the Seeds
8. Pot Kettle Black
9. Shot In the Arm
10. She’s a Jar
11. Handshake Drugs
12. Impossible Germany
13. It’s Just That Simple
14. Pick Up the Change
15. Too Far Apart
16. Nothingsevergonnastandinmywayagain
17. Jesus, Etc.
18. Hate It Here
19. Walken
20. I’m the Man Who Loves You

Encore 1

21. Someone Else’s Song (Tweedy acoustic)
22. Misunderstood
23. The Thanks I Get
24. Red Eyed and Blue>
25. I Got You (At the End of the Century)
26. Monday

Encore 2

27. The Late Greats

All I can say is, “wow.”

Jeff Tweedy looked great in a white-and red Nudie Suit he wore especially for the occasion and it was a real treat when he came out for the first encore and played “Someone Else’s Song” alone at the edge of the stage, no PA, totally acoustic. Only at the Ryman would this be possible. “This is the best place in the world to play,” he said more than once and we truly felt blessed to be there.

It’s hard for me to be at all objective when it comes to Wilco; they are simply the best band on the planet. If I were younger, I would follow them around like I used to follow around the Grateful Dead. And that’s saying something (what I’m not exactly sure).

Just, wow.

Now Playing: Matthew Shipp

Matthew Shipp: Piano Vortex (Thirsty Ear) (2007)

Matthew Shipp: piano
Joe Morris: bass
Whit Dickey: drums

I had the brief pleasure of hanging out with Matthew Shipp and Whit Dickey while we were students at the New England Conservatory of Music, circa. 1983-84. One day, while sitting in the McDonald’s on Huntington Avenue, Shipp told me that he really wanted to do an avant-jazz cover of David Bowie’s “Rock’N’Roll Suicide.” I was flabbergasted and to this day I’m not sure if he wasn’t pulling my leg.

A few months later, Shipp played a solo recital at NEC (itself an astonishing feat for a first-semester freshman) accompanied by the tenor saxophonist Gary Joynes (whatever happened to him?). It was an unforgettable, brain-melting experience. Here was someone, barely twenty-one years old, who knew exactly what he wanted to do within the high-stakes, post-Coltrane, free-jazz sound-world and had set about doing it; even the program notes were suitably cosmic, a la the space-poetry of Sun Ra. It was obvious to everyone in attendance that Shipp was the real deal and that he would go on to find fame, if not fortune, in the jazz business. Sure enough, he left the provincial confines of Boston for the promised land of New York City after only a couple of semesters. Whit Dickey followed soon thereafter.

A long stint with David S. Ware’s Quartet refined and developed Shipp’s musicianship and, since 1992, he has made a vast quantity of records as a leader and sideman. Since 2000, Shipp has served as executive producer of Thirsty Ear’s “Blue Series” and has experimented of late with electronics, loops, and samples, attempting a kind of 21st Century fusion that sometimes works and sometimes doesn’t, but which makes me think maybe he wasn’t totally joking about that David Bowie cover. (See e.g. 2004’s High Water, a collaboration with El-P which features an uncredited (and barely recognizable) cover of Minnie Ripperton’s 1975 hit, “Loving You.”).

Piano Vortex has been heralded as a “return to form” with its back-to-acoustic, uncompromisingly avant-garde approach. What’s really interesting about this record is hearing erstwhile guitarist, Joe Morris, playing stand-up bass. His ultra-clean articulation suits the bigger instrument, but his tone sounds thin by comparison to Shipp’s usual collaborator, William Parker, particularly with the bow. Nonetheless, Morris’s guitaristic take on the bass is interestingly linear and free of cliché, while Dickey kicks up clouds of cymbal washes and drum taps and Shipp does his thing on the piano, which, to my ears, has become more lyrical and less percussive as the years have gone by. In fact, much of this record sounds more like Thelonious Monk than Cecil Taylor and the overall effect is one of smooth professionalism amidst all the aggressive dissonance. In that respect, it seems to lack some of the fire and passion of Shipp’s recordings from the 1990s. On the other hand, the wisdom of maturity is something quite different from the excitement and exuberance of youth and should not unduly suffer the comparison.

Piano Vortex may appear to be a step backwards, but is still a highly listenable recording of some prickly and difficult music and, as such, is a worthy addition to Shipp’s already expansive catalog. It would make the perfect starting point for the uninitiated and, for that reason alone, gets my highest recommendation.

--rgc