Playlist Week of 2013-09-07

* Boulez: Le Marteau sans maître/Dérive 1 & 2 (Ens. Intercontemporain/Boulez) (DG CD)

* Boulez: Repons, etc. (Ens. Intercontemporain/Damiens/Boulez) (DG CD)

* Boulez: Pli Selon Pli (Ens. Intercontemporain/Schäfer/Boulez) (DG CD)

* Miles Davis: Amandla (Warner Bros. LP)

* Sun Ra: The Second Stop Is Jupiter (Norton CD)

* Sun Ra: The Nubians Of Plutonia (El Saturn/Universal LP)

* Sun Ra: Night Of The Purple Moon (El Saturn/Universal LP)

* Sun Ra: Universe In Blue (El Saturn/Universal LP)

* Herbie Hancock, et al.: Blow-Up (Original Soundtrack) (MGM/4MWB LP)

* Herbie Hancock: Death Wish (Original Soundtrack) (Columbia LP)

* Andrew Hill: Pax (Blue Note CD)

* Andrew Hill: Compulsion!!!!! (Blue Note CD)

* Marion Brown: Vista (Impulse! LP)

* Lenny White: Venusian Summer (Nemperor/Atlantic LP)

* Joanne Brackeen: Keyed In (Columbia LP)

* Joanne Brackeen: Special Identity (Antilles LP)

* Gateway (John Abercrombie/Dave Holland/Jack DeJohnette: Gateway (ECM LP)

* John Abercrombie: Cat ‘n’ Mouse (ECM CD)

* Terje Rypdal/Miroslav Vitous/Jack DeJohnette (ECM LP)

* Steve Kuhn: Non-Fiction (ECM LP)

* Joey Baron: Just Listen (Relative Pitch CD)

* Book of Three (T.H. Bynum/J. Hebert/G. Cleaver): Continuum (2012) (Relative Pitch CD)

* Mary Halvorson/Kirk Knuffke/Matt Wilson: Sifter (Relative Pitch CD)

* Chris Abrahams & Magda Mayas: Gardener (Relative Pitch CD)

* Chris Forsyth: Solar Motel (Paradise of Bachelors MP3)†

* Michael Jackson: Off The Wall (Epic LP)

* Mandrill: Mandrill (Polydor LP)

* Ghetto Brothers: Power Fuerza (Truth & Soul LP)

* Notorious B.I.G.: Ready To Die (Bad Boy/Rhino 2LP)

* Frank Ocean: Channel Orange (Island Def Jam CD)

* The Beatles: Rubber Soul (1987 remix) (2009 remaster) (Apple/EMI CD)†

* Jerry Garcia Band: Coliseum, Hampton, VA 1991-11-09 (Pure Jerry 2HDCD)

* The Moody Blues: In Search Of The Lost Chord (Deram LP)

* The Moody Blues: To Our Childrens Childrens Children (Threshold/London LP)

* Gentle Giant: Octopus (Vertigo/Alucard CD)

* Bill Bruford: Earthworks (Editions EG LP)

* Steve Hackett: Please Don’t Touch (Chrysalis LP)

* Anthony Phillips: The Geese & The Ghost (Passport LP)

* Brand X: Unorthodox Behavior (Passport LP)

* Happy The Man: Crafty Hands (Arista LP)

* Happy The Man: Georgetown University, Washington, D.C. 1975-10-30 (FM CDR)

* Happy The Man: Baltimore State University 1976-04-03 (SBD 2CDR)

* Happy The Man: Rainbow’s End, Williamsburg, VA 1977-04-24b (FM CDR)

* Boston: Boston (Epic LP)

* Boston: Don’t Look Back (Epic LP)

* Boston: Third Stage (MCA LP)

* Dereck Higgins: Sonospheres (DVH Recordings/Bandcamp ALAC)†

* Amorphous Androgynous: Tales of Ephidrina (Astralwerks/Caroline CD)†/‡

* U.S. Maple: Sang Phat Editor (Skin Graft LP)

* U.S. Maple: Talker (Drag City LP)

* Baroness: Red Album (Relapse 2-45RPM LP)

* Alcest: Ecailles de Lune (Prophecy Productions CD)†/‡

* Locrian: Return To Annihilation (Relapse 2-45RPM LP)

* Verma: Coltan (Trouble In Mind LP)

†=iPod

‡=car

Commentary:

The upstart avant-jazz label, Relative Pitch Records, continues to crank out interesting releases at a furious pace and all of them are well worth checking out. Here’s a quick overview of the label’s offerings so far this year:

·       Joey Baron: Just Listen (RPR 001): Drums and guitar duets with Bill Frisell, recorded live at Forum Bundeskunsthalle in Bonn, Germany on November 11, 2008. Taken from videotape recording, the sonics are a bit thin but otherwise quite nice, with a spacious, wide-angle ambience. Of course, neither of these guys need any introduction, both of them universally acclaimed masters of their instruments—but those who prefer to hear Frisell in a looser, more improvisational setting (a la his early ECM records) will definitely want to pick this up.

·       Chris Abrahams & Magda Mayas: Gardener (RPR 1011). Abrahams, from the Australian avant-rock band, The Necks, teams up here with Berlin-based pianist Mayas for a series of improvised keyboard duets, recorded in 2009. Moving between piano, harpsichord and harmonium, the musicians create a variety of interweaving textures, from droning calm to prickly pointillism, all the while maintaining a near-mystical sense of purposefulness as the tracks seamlessly flow together. An exquisitely crafted album of contemplative, spiritual chamber music, composed in the moment of creation, Gardener is s record which rewards multiple, deep listenings. Most highly recommended!

·       Book of Three: Continuum (2012) (RPR 1012). An ad hoc all-star ensemble of cornettist Taylor Ho Bynum, bassist John Hebert and Gerald Cleaver on drums, this finds Bynum playing in a slightly more straightforward jazz setting than usual—and the results are stunning. Playing both composed pieces and free improvisations, the set flows together beautifully, with everyone at the top of his game. Even though it was recorded in a studio, this CD burns with a focus and intensity usually found only in a live performance. The Don Cherry influence is palpable—but that is a good thing and partly what makes this CD so compelling (the rest lies in the killer rhythm section). Continuum (2012) is one of the most approachable and downright enjoyable recordings in Bynum’s ever-growing discography and, therefore, totally essential.

·       Mary Halvorson/Kirk Knuffke/Matt Wilson: Sifter (RPR 1014). Anything with Mary Halvorson’s guitar on it is a must-have, in my opinion—but, to be honest, this one doesn’t quite work for me. A mostly swinging affair, the lack of a bassist cramps her style a bit, leaving her to hold down the low end while also providing the harmonic territories. So, when she solos, the bottom seems to drop out of the music. Nevertheless, Knuffke has a warm, burnished tone on trumpet, with a fluid, post-bop sensibility that meshes well with Halvorson’s spidery guitar work and Wilson’s tasteful drumming. Add, say, John Hebert on bass and this one could have really taken flight—but, as it is, Sifter remains frustratingly earthbound. Even so, Knuffke is a player to keep an eye on and Halvorson’s undeniable brilliance makes this worth having.

These are all available directly from the label or at discriminating online outlets like Downtown Music Gallery and Squidco. I can’t wait to hear what they put out next!

Sun Ra Sunday

H
Wherein I take Sun Ra Sunday to the YouTube Vinyl Community.

Playlist Week of 2013-08-31

* Satie: L’Orchestre de Satie (Orchestre des Concerts Lamoureux/Sado) (Erato CD)

* Xenakis: La légende d’Eer (Auvidis Montaigne CD)

* Xenakis: Pléïades (Les Percussions de Strasbourg) (Harmonia Mundi CD)

* Sun Ra: Monorails & Satellites (Saturn/Universal LP)

* Sun Ra: Strange Strings (Saturn/Universal LP)

* Sun Ra: Disco 3000 (Saturn/Art Yard CD)

* John Coltrane: Live In Japan (Impulse!/GRP 4CD)

* Dave Liebman: Drum Ode (ECM LP)

* Codona (Collin Walcott/Don Cherry/Nana Vasconcelos): Codona (ECM LP)

* Terje Rypdal: Waves (ECM LP)

* Kip Hanrahan: Vertical’s Currency (American Clave LP)

* Chris Forsyth: Solar Motel (Paradise Of Bachelors MP3)†

* Bob Dylan: The Bootleg Series Vol.10: Another Self Portrait (Columbia Legacy 4CD)

* Grateful Dead: Dave’s Picks Vol.5: Pauley Pavilion, UCLA 11/17/73 (GDP/Rhino 3HDCD)

* Jeff Beck: There And Back (Epic/Friday Music LP)

* King Crimson: Beat (Discipline Global Mobile HDCD)

* King Crimson: Three Of A Perfect Pair (Discipline Global Mobile HDCD)

* King Crimson: THRAK (Discipline Global Mobile HDCD)

* Yes: The Yes Album (Atlantic/Mobile Fidelity CD)

* Yes: Fragile (Atlantic/Mobile Fidelity CD)

* Yes: Close To The Edge (Atlantic/Audio Fidelity SACD)

* Yes: Going For The One (Atlantic/Audio Fidelity SACD)

* Happy The Man: Crafty Hands (Arista LP)

* Dereck Higgins: Dereck 2 (DVH/Bandcamp ALAC)†

* Dereck Higgins: Dereck 3 (DVH/Bandcamp ALAC)†

* Dereck Higgins: Autumn (DVH/Bandcamp ALAC)†

* Dereck Higgins: Sonospsheres (DVH/Bandcamp ALAC)†

* Opeth: Watershed (Roadrunner CD/DVD)

* Kylesa: Ultraviolet (Seasons of Mist 2-45RPM LP)

* Deafheaven: Sunbather (Deathwish, Inc. 2-45RPM LP) †/‡

* Verma: Coltan (Trouble In Mind LP)

* Beach House: Teen Dream (Sub Pop 2LP)

* Beach House: Bloom (Sub Pop 2-45RPM LP)

* Lower Dens: Nootropics (Ribbon 2-45RPM LP)

* Alabama Shakes: Boys & Girls (ATO LP+7”)

†=iPod

‡=car

Commentary:

Now that Labor Day Weekend is here, the new releases are going to start flowing again and this week’s big event is surely Volume 10 of the Bob Dylan Bootleg Series. Subtitled “Another Self Portrait,” the 2-CD set features outtakes, live tracks and un-overdubbed masters recorded from in 1969-70, some of which appeared—in much different form—on Self Portrait and New Morning.

I wrote about Self Portrait back in 2010 (you can read it here) and it really is a pretty awful Dylan record. Greil Marcus famously began his Rolling Stone review with the question Dylan fanatics dared not ask: “What is this shit?” Marcus was invited to write liner notes for this installment of The Bootleg Series and he nails down what makes Self Portrait so enthralling yet disturbing. With the perspective of many decades of hindsight (and the privilege of hearing the unadorned tracks) it is clear that Dylan’s 1969 “self-portrait” of ancient and modern covers and reimagined originals was sincere—a truth that was maybe not altogether clear until Good As I Been To You (1992) and World Gone Wrong (1993). But it is also clear that Dylan was deliberately attempting career suicide in 1969. Long hailed (and frequently attacked) as “the spokesman for a generation,” a “prophet” and some sort of “messiah,” Dylan was countering all that nonsense with a Jim Nabors croon and corny covers, lathered in strings and overlayed with a goopy choir. Nothing could have been less cool than that in 1970!  But Dylan’s ploy didn’t work. Self Portrait still sold millions of copies. He also played in front of hundreds of thousands of rapturous fans at the Isle of Wight on August 30, 1969. Thereafter he mostly withdrew from the stage and entered into a long erratic period with only the merest flashes of brilliance showing through (and then often purposely flawed, e.g. the re-made Blood On The Tracks). It really wasn’t until the 1980s that Dylan had finally destroyed the myth, releasing execrable records like Knocked Out Loaded (1986) and Down In The Groove (1988) having descended into irrelevance and self-parody. Then, of course, he really did come back in the late 1990s—but it was on his own terms: as a song-and-dance man with a poetic bent—which is all he ever was to begin with.

So, The Bootleg Series Volume 10 is truly a revelation and redeems a nearly un-redeemable album. The unadorned Self Portrait tracks, recorded in New York with just Dylan and David Bromberg on acoustic guitars, reveal a depth of emotion and sincere reverence for the songs that was nearly obliterated by the Nashville overdubs. Meanwhile, early versions of the New Morning material display an agonized search for an approach to singing and songwriting Dylan could live with going forward. Additional material with The Band (including a previously unreleased Basement Tapes recording and more tracks from the Isle of Wight gig) connect the dots from the explosive, tumultuous UK tour in 1966 (documented on The Bootleg Series Volume 4), the self-imposed exile in the basement of Big Pink and the remade Dylan of John Wesley Harding, Nashville Skyline and beyond. Self Portrait may be “bad” album—but with the release of The Bootleg Series Volume 10, it now at least makes some sort of sense.

After pondering whether to get the reasonably priced two-CD set or the premium priced vinyl edition, I decided to spring for the deluxe, too-expensive, limited edition four-CD box. Why? Well, for one thing, it includes the entire Isle of Wight performance remixed and uncut. Moreover, it also provides the remastered Self Portrait on disc four. Now, if the vinyl had included the Isle of Wight CD, it would have been a no-brainer (after all, it’s not like I’m going to be spinning the original album all that often). And, even if this stuff becomes available separately later (as Self Portrait will surely be), I don’t care. The CDs (mastered by Greg Calbi) sound excellent, the oversized box set really is deluxe, with two hardbound books including an exclusive volume of contemporaneous photographs, press materials and rare sleeve reproductions. The only problem is: where do I put it?

Nice Review of "Indeterminate" @ Free Jazz Blog

A downright rave review of Rodger Coleman & Sam Byrd: "Indeterminate (Improvisations for Piano and Drums)" was posted today by Paul Acquaro at Free Jazz Blog, the premiere site for online reviews of this sort of music. I am beyond amazed!

I appreciate how Mr. Acquaro particularly praises the sound quality:

This concert recording is captured nicely, you can hear the attack of the percussion balanced with the fury of the piano. It's dense music, but not without space. 

All credit for that goes to my nephew, Brian Totoro who beautifully engineered the recording under extraordinary time constraints while combatting various technical difficulties. Bravo, Brian!

You can stream the entire recording at Nuvoid Jazz Records or order the deluxe CD (or purchase a download) by clicking the link below. Thank you for your interest and support!

Sun Ra Sunday

Sun Ra: Disco 3000 (Saturn/Art Yard CD)

Although The Complete Disco 3000 Concert (recorded at The Teatro Cilak in Milan, Italy) contains all of the music found on the original LP, Art Yard also released Disco 3000 (CD 101) as a straight reissue (with alternative artwork) in 2009. I’m glad they did because it is a classic—and very strange—Sun Ra album that deserves to be heard in its original form. Moreover, listening to the entire two-hour concert is a considerable time commitment, which, in some ways, dilutes the impact of the original Disco 3000 LP in my opinion.

The first side consists of the twenty-six minute title track while side two contains “Third Planet,” “Friendly Galaxy” and “Dance of the Cosmo Aliens.” While you can my descriptions on my review of The Complete Disco 3000 Concert, what is interesting to me is how much more effective “Dance of the Cosmo Aliens” is when it is shorn from its original context, the twisted electronica bookending the album with “Disco 3000.” Or maybe my ears got tired by the time it was played, over an hour into the original concert. Hardcore fans will want both, but Disco 3000 is essential.

In typically Saturnal fashion, Michael Ray’s liner notes (penned in 2007 and contained on both Art Yard CDs) are both enlightening and confusing. “It was here,” he says, “that most of my early dues were paid.”

Sun Ra would tell me “You playing your horn alright but try my way, unless you have some sort of mental block.” “Play that apple. Remember it is round so think of 360 degrees of sound and color. It’s red which means its energy deals with the first chakra, you have to be able to play the vibration.” We rehearsed like this from early in the morning to late at night for days. It was like having someone erase your mainframe and reboot your hard drive! Sunny always said expect the unexpected. “We might have a gig on Mars one day so you got to be swinging on your horn, because they don’t party like earthlings” 

Elsewhere, he writes:

The Winter of ’78, I headed to Rome not knowing what to expect…Sun Ra would get up every day at dawn. We would then drive over to Media Dreams, a small studio run by Andreas and Alfie, very good friends of the band. Andreas was credited with the development of the Walkman, which he sold to Sony Company.

Huh? “Andreas” is presumably Andreas Pavel, inventor of a proto-Walkman, which was (according to Wikipedia) patented in Italy in 1977. So, it is certainly possible that he was in Rome in January of 1978—but, as far as I can tell, he had nothing to do with the Horo Records label or the “Horo Voice Studio,” where New Steps and Other Voices, Other Blues were (presumably) recorded (see Campbell & Trent pp.243-246). Ray makes no mention of Horo—is he referring to those albums or were there other studio recordings made in Italy in January 1978? If so, where are they? I'm "friends" with Michael Ray on Facebook; maybe I should ask him...