Playlist Week of 3-06-10

* Geminiani: Concerti Grossi (after Corelli, Op.5) (AAM/Manze) (Harmonia Mundi 2CD)
* Vivaldi: Cello Sonatas (ter Linden/Mortensen) (Brilliant Classics 2CD)
* Rebel: Violin Sonatas (Manze/Egarr/ter Linden) (Harmonia Mundi CD)
* J.S. Bach: Violin Sonatas (Manze/Egarr/ter Linden) (Harmonia Mundi 2CD)
* J.S. Bach: Goldberg Variations (Hewitt): RFH, London 4-29-09 (FM CDR)
* Debussy/Ravel/Dutilleux: String Quartets (Juilliard Quartet) (Sony CD)
* Bill Evans: The Complete Village Vanguard Recordings, 1961 (d.1-2) (Riverside 3CD)
* Sun Ra: Helsinki, Finland 10-14-71 (FM 2CDR)
* Sun Ra: Aarhus, Denmark 10-19-71 (d.2) (FM 2CDR)
* Sun Ra: Delft, Netherlands 11-11-71 (d.1) (FM 3CDR)
* Peter Brötzmann Sextet/Quartet: Nipples (UMS/Atavistic CD)
* Peter Brötzmann Sextet/Quartet: More Nipples (UMS/Atavistic CD)
* Matthew Shipp Duo with Mat Maneri: Gravitational Systems (hatOLOGY CD)
* Mary HalvorsonTrio: Dragon’s Head (Firehouse 12 CD)
* Mary Halvorson Trio: The Vortex, London 12-14-09 (FM CDR)
* Bill Frisell: Nashville (Nonesuch CD)
* The Beatles: Rubber Soul (U.K. mono) (Apple/EMI CD)
* Jimi Hendrix: South Saturn Delta (Experience Hendrix/MCA CD)
* Grateful Dead: Performing Arts Center, Milwaukee, WI 10-24-72 IIx (SBD CDR)
* Grateful Dead: Red Rocks Amphitheater, Morrison, CO 7-8-78 (SBD 3CDR)
* Led Zeppelin: II (Atlantic – Japan LP)
* Henry Cow: Concerts (Virgin 2LP)
* Pink Floyd: The Dark Side of the Moon (Capitol SACD)
* Genesis: Paris Theatre, London 3-2-72 + BBC Studios 9-25-72 (Pre-FM CDR)
* Van Morrison: Veedon Fleece (Polydor CD)
* Neil Young: Time Fades Away (Reprise LP)
* Nick Drake: Pink Moon (Island/Universal CD)
* Chris Bell: I Am the Cosmos (Deluxe Edition) (Rhino Handmade 2CD)
* Golden Palominos: Visions of Excess (Celluloid LP)
* Golden Palominos: Blast of Silence (Celluloid LP)
* Guided By Voices: “I Am a Scientist” (Scat 7”EP)
* Guided By Voices: Alien Lanes (Matador LP)
* Guided By Voices: “Motor Away” (Matador 7”)
* Guided By Voices: Tigerbomb (Matador 7”EP)
* Robert Pollard: We All Got Out of the Army (GBV, Inc. LP)
* Robert Pollard: “Silk Rotor” (side B) (Happy Jack Rock Records 7”EP)
* Buckethead: Monsters and Robots (CyberOctave CD)
* Praxis: Bonnaroo Music Festival, Manchester, TN 6-11-04 (Axis Festival/SBD 3CDR)
* Beck: Mutations (Bongload Custom LP)
* Beck: Various B-Sides 1996-1999 (mix CDR)
* Animal Collective: Fall Be Kind (Domino CDEP)

Commentary:

Inspired by Sam’s recent playlists, I decided to pull out my CDRs of the Praxis set at the Bonnaroo Music Festival in 2004 and give them a spin. I’m embarrassed to admit that, even though Bonnaroo takes place every summer just down the road from here, I have never been. My lame excuses are as follows: for one thing, I am simply getting to be too old for that kind of thing -- and I’m getting older by the day. More importantly, I just don’t have the camping gear required to make such a trip even remotely comfortable. So, every year I daydream about how fun it would be to go to Bonnaroo but ultimately wind up realizing it’s just not feasible.

ANYWAY, way back in 2004, I thought it was pretty darn cool that Bill Laswell’s ultra-urban, ad hoc Praxis ensemble (with Bernie Worrell, Buckethead, Bryan "Brain" Mantia, and, sometimes, Lili Haydn) performed a late-night set down here in rural Tennessee. Even cooler, the complete concert was later available for download on Livebonnaroo.com for those of us who couldn’t (or wouldn’t) make the trip. It’s a sprawling affair, almost three hours of space-funk-heavy-metal-dub mayhem that only occasionally comes together into a satisfying whole. In 2007, ROIR released a one-CD edit of this performance entitled, Tennessee 2004, but I haven’t heard it. Colloquially speaking, I expect it benefits from Laswell’s judicious editing, making for a satisfying album experience. In any event, I’m glad to have this raw document of a rare performance by this enigmatic group. Despite its flaws, this is another example of what I consider effective, if not essential, fusion music: virtuoso musicians fearlessly experimenting in genre-crossing synthesis. No, it doesn’t always work and some of it is in self-consciously bad taste -- or worse, merely boring; but the inherent friction sometimes sparks a fireworks display that justifies the risks and inevitable losses. Those moments of illumination, as fleeting and ephemeral as they might be, are what make any sincere attempt at fusion laudable, if not necessarily listenable. Think I’ll check out the rest of their discography in coming weeks.