I've got around 14 of these box sets including the Dixon, which has been the toughest for me to get into. So dry and sparse. But what a great re-issue series!
I think I have all but two of the sets! A few I need to listen through the whole set yet. The Dixon is one of my favorites, that and the Murrays.
I burned out on Murray in the 90s, so I passed on those. I guess my faves would be Richard Abrams, Steve Lacy, and Andrew Cyrille. The duplication across many of the sets is the only downside.
In the month that Evans went into the studio to do Empathy with Manne, Undercurrent came out on United Artists, which looks like a one-off deal for both Evans and Jim Hall. The original art doesn't advertise any names on the front, just one of the most evocative photos ever to appear on an album cover, but the back and interior of the jacket, and the label, give Evans top billing. Do you know of any stories behind that deal?
I may have, but have temporarily misplaced the memory. But, I'll never forget that cover. I like being evoked.
I recently read the Robbie Robertson bio and it deals with the Woodstock NY era in detail . I love the Basement Tapes and could not put my finger on why. I too came to the realization that he has a love for improv that comes through here so candidly. The recent More Blood release also highlights how little time he wants to spend on each song. I’ve seen him live and each song is almost always performed very different from the recording as you note. I used to think it was more of a restlessness and perhaps lack of patience and I’m sure that is a part of it but I think he also thrives on the spontaneity much more then I had realized at any rate. Very jazz like. I think this sence of ease like a kind of 4 am set at the 5 spot feeling with your peers and friends is what pervades the basement tapes. A kind of peace he had not experienced in years. I was so pleased and relieved when they released that bootleg properly.
Dixon's music can do no wrong for me. Yes, much of it is very challenging but that's what I love. I've gotten to that point in my life where I embrace it, where I have tired of the familiarity that I hear in a lot of music and look for stuff that will cause me to open my ears again and really listen.
I'm with you. I'm always looking for challenging stuff. And I like unorthodox jazz music. I haven't given up on Dixon. Sometimes I'll let something sit on the shelf for a couple of years and then revisit.
Something that is ‘challenging’ isn’t really something that’s a priority for me or even something that I care anything about. All that matters to me is if it moves me. I can be moved by Ornette Coleman the same as I can be moved by Sonny Criss. I see no reason to purposely look for challenging, avant-garde jazz music when I know there’s plenty of musicians who made good music without resorting to just making endless streams of noise. There’s enough s*** out there that I simply look for what I find enticing and from what I’ve heard of Bill Dixon, I can’t imagine myself enjoying his music as there’s simply nothing that I find worth making an effort to get to know better.
I don't know what "avant garde" is supposed to mean? I like free music, and I like Bill Evans, Duke Ellington, John Scofield, whatever. One thing I don't like is all these jocular white saxophonists that play a million notes. A lot of them get praised to the rafters in the jazz rags, but I can't stand them. I don't like generic players either.
You don’t know what avant-garde means? I mean the term has been around for ages. ‘Jocular, white saxophonists’? Hmmm...care to elaborate? I don’t like generic players either, but all of the players I admire the most are far from generic or ordinary.
It doesn't mean a sub genre of jazz, that's for sure. It means the leading edge, or innovative new development. And there's hardly any of that these days. As far as the sax players I referred to, it's the Michael Brecker gymnastic sound alikes. And anybody else who overplays. Same for guitarists.
Okay, I certainly can sympathize with your opinion on these types of saxophonists. Quite frankly, I was never a Michael Brecker fan or the kind of sound he achieved, but to be fair, I know he has his fans who love his playing. It just was never my thing.
I listened to Brecker's first few albums in the late 80s. He wrote some good compositions. But I lost interest after that. I used to dig Steve Coleman when he was with Dave Holland. He has a unique sound. But I don't keep up with the loads of projects he's done on his own. I could listen to Dewey Redman all day. He's got a lot of soul. And all the cats who played with Mingus are great. George Adams, Roland Kirk, Jackie McLean, John Handy, Dolphy, Booker Ervin, Pepper Adams, etc...
It's not a priority for me either, but at the same I like the pursuit of repeated listens to try to understand what the artist is conveying. It can be very rewarding. If it hits me right away that's ok too. But I do like it when I have to come back to when something doesn't do it to me on first or second listen, but then down the road something happens and all of a sudden I'm there and it's right as rain. When I talk about liking challenging music, it still has to have something there that would make me want to take it on. There's gotta be a payoff. And there is with Dixon. For me. I guess part of it is there's already stuff that he's done that I've enjoyed and respected so much so that if I listen to something new and it's different from what I liked, the challenge is there to not dismiss it out of hand but give it time to reach me. Over the years, so many favorite albums have started like that, from Exile On Main St, to Trout Mask Replica, to Coltrane's more avant work, to much of Miles' electric stuff, to a lot of Sun Ra's stuff...well, you get the point.
Still can't really enjoy Coltrane's late stuff. He sounds too restless for my taste. The reams of notes for 15-20 minutes, or the free blowing which never sounded convincing to my ears. I feel like other players did it a lot better. Sun Ra I loved from the get-go.
I certainly understand what you’re saying, but we’re all different. I’ll freely admit I wasn’t a Mingus or Monk fan for a long-time, but overtime I’ve learned to appreciate them and now I adore them. I agree that there’s got to be something within the music that allures you and that resonates with you even if you don’t quite like it the first or second go-arounds. I’ve tried to get into free jazz many years ago, but I just have no aptitude for it. I like some kind of structure even if it’s a loose structure. I wish I could appreciate Miles’ electric period more and while I do like some of it (mainly In A Silent Way and Jack Johnson), I fail to get inside of it. Maybe one day...there’s still hope. One day, I’ll wakeup and say “Yes! So that’s what he was trying to do on Big Fun!”
