Nice. Of all the ECM releases the one I return to is Nice Guys. Reese and the Smooth Ones is excellent. Chervokas mentions People in Sorrow often and I agree it's an important recording, not necessarily more so than some of the other Nessas.
People in Sorrow is one of those records that just enchant me, the way it slowly unfolds, and builds. I find it both beautiful and emotional and focused, I can really hang on each moment of it. (Which is also the way I feel about Roscoe Mitchell's Bells for the South Side.) There are other AEC records I like from ECM -- I love Urban Bushmen, that's another performance that unfolds in a gorgeous, steady way with a flow to it. Of the other Nessas, I love "Old" on Old/Quartet; I really like Congliptious, and I like in particular the expanded edition of it. Among mid period AEC albums, there's one that's not too often mentioned -- Phase One -- that I really like, but there's almost 50 album, including post reunion stuff. I haven't heard 'em all.
The Band got so tired of Duke running out with some ladies as soon as the show ended, leaving them to load the bus, that they told Duke he would have to do all the work setting up for the next show, if he wanted to hear his music again.
Can someone provide feedback on the Analogue Productions 45 rpm reissue of Horace Silver's "Blowin' the Blues Away?" I love the album and I am looking for a replacement copy for the one I have which is a bit noisy.
That's too bad Trib. I bought each of these as they were released. When the original Storyville founder died and it seemed as if new production would never happen, I became part of a collector's ring that got the remaining Treasury Show LPs digitized and circulated on DVD-R so was glad to have a sort of complete set. Then to my surprise and joy Storyville resumed and completed the series. Some wonderful music and so nice to have Duke speaking over and over.
Did you know Ellington collector-archivist Jerry Valburn? One of my friends became his assistant in his last years. Here is an unusual image of Duke with composer Percy Grainger in 1932. The link below the image has a long article on their encounter Duke Ellington, Percy Grainger, and the status of jazz in the academy
Thought the movie was a mess, but the music was nice and I've never heard More..., just have two copies of the first one instead!
Another new addition next, from a group I'd never previously heard. Tommy Flanagan Trio's Overseas on AP 33. This one survived unscathed back to its shelf.
The first line of the opening song of this one could not be more timely. Bob Dylan "Oh Mercy" Mobile Fidelity Sound Lab SACD
He's one of my favorite authors and poets also. I read The English Major this fall, which I liked more than I thought I would, and getting ready to take on The Great Leader. Esquire published one of the novellas, Legends of the Fall, when I was a very young man in 1979, and I was hooked from then on. His latter-day novels can be related to very much, with his cooking/foodstuff passages interesting and often hilarious. I was very saddened when he recently passed. I've got quite a few pages to view and soak up, but had to post a classic, and glad to be back. Hope everyone had a great holiday and are having a great year thus far. Cheers, an Amber libation for me...
For those who don't recall Dylan's song (and his critics say he was a sellout by "giving up" politics) We live in a political world Love don't have any place We're living in times Where men commit crimes And crime don't have any face We live in a political world Icicles hanging own Wedding bells ring And angels sing And clouds cover up the ground We live in a political world Wisdom is thrown in jail It rots in a cell Is misguided as hell Leaving no one to pick up the trail We live in a political world Where mercy walks the plank Life is in mirrors Death disappears Up the steps to the nearest bank We live in a political world Courage is a thing of the past Houses are haunted Children unwanted The next day could be your last We live in a political world The one we can see and feel But there's no one to check It's all a stacked deck We all know for sure that it's real We live in a political world In the cities of lonesome fear Little by little You turn in the middle But you're never sure why you're here We live in a political world Under the microscope You can travel anywhere And hang yourself there You always got more than enough rope We live in a political world Turning and trashing about As soon as you're awake You're trained to take What looks like the easy way out We live in a political world Where peace is not welcome at all It's turned away from the door To wonder some more Or put up against the wall We live in a political world Everything is hers and his Climb into the frame And shout God's name But you're never sure what it is
All your Duke talk has brought this one out for a listen. Listening to a true VG+ of the original 1975 Pablo LP. Loving the Jazz Duo thing! I’m really appreciating the ability to focus on one instrument - it’s so much easier than a 3 or 4 piece band. It’s like I can really focus on the fingertips hitting their respective instruments and catch much more detail - at least on this one. So, this leads me to ask you all - any other Jazz Duets out there are worth bragging about??
Spent the evening listening to this absolutely wonderful, and wonderfully produced episode of WQXR's Meet the Composer on the subject of Henry Threadgill. Must listen for anyone interested in Threadgill and his music. Henry Threadgill: Dirt, and More Dirt | Meet the Composer | New Sounds
It's a real tragedy that we only got to hear one session of that Powell/Rollins/Navarro/Potter/Haynes lineup. I first heard the four tunes from this session on a double BN Fats Navarro compilation Prime Source - wonderful bebop!
I'm very fond of tenor sax-piano duets (no bass or drums). Archie Shepp did a bunch, one with Abdullah Ibrahim (Dollar Brand) and several with Horace Parlan. George Coleman did a great one. For piano-bass duets, there was the great series of albums by Kenny Drew and NHOP. Ruby Braff (trumpet) did some nice duo recordings If record producers were more open minded, there would have been countless duo recordings. Musicians love that format, but the moguls and producers refused to allow them in many cases through the years But while on Duke, I pulled together everything that he did with piano as the focus, whether solo, duo, trio, quartet or even piano led groups. It makes a nice collection.
Today played Buddy Terry thru Spotify: There's something about Mainstream that make me want those records. But thankfully there are ways to check most of the albums before you buy. I mean, it's not a bad album, not at all, but I sense thatI would play it rarely if I bought it. I get a feeling of dejavu when playing it. Like I've heard those ideas somewhere else already. In the evening played some Milt Jackson
Yes, Phase One is excellent. If I were to recommend a 'set' of AEC it would be to reassemble the Art Ensemble box on Nessa that's out of print but that has been reissued in sections. I also like Urban Bushmen but it sounds a little distant, like it was recorded in a large hall and not miked closely enough. For that period as I said I still like Nice Guys and Alternate Express on DIW. For recordings that are outside of the AEC but lead by AEC members there is Roscoe Mitchell's Sound and Nonaah on Nessa and Lester Bowie's Fast Last on Muse that are must haves for me.
A belated Happy New Years to Yesternow and all other contributors here. I hope that 2019 is a good one for all. I've been on a camper-van trip with my family. Flew from Auckland (North island of New Zealand) to Queenstown (South island of New Zealand) and have been slowly travelling back up to Auckland via camper-van, stopping off at camping sites along the way. I had limited internet access and quite enjoyed the break from 'the world'. Got back yesterday; just enjoyed a coffee and quickly skimmed through the 70-odd pages of this thread that i missed. NP Keith Jarrett - A Multitude of Angels (Disc 2: Ferrara) Feeling a bit of post holiday 'back to reality blues' right now, this album is helping me out.
I'm a big fan of Sound, and I really like the first take of the title piece that was eventually issued on the expanded edition. Urban Bushmen I think sounds amazing, it's got a giant spacious room sound, but it's also close -- the instruments sound big. It's also an enormously dynamic recording. I'm not a big fan of the reverb-laden ECM sound as a general rule, and I think the company's recordings got darker and more reverb laden and softer edged over time, but I think there are some great sounding early ECM recordings and some great '70s and early '80s live recordings from the label, Urban Bushmen being one of them (Old and New Dreams' Playing, from around the same time as Urban Bushmen, is another).
