What Jazz are you listening to now?

[George]

Yes, it is extremely well produced and documented.

Turns out I already have three of the albums on that set, so I will likely pass.

[SimonNZ]

A rather grim irony in that title considering what's just happened in your part of the world - hope's all's well.

Thanks for that. This time around with the earthquakes we're only feeling the tail end of the larger ones down my way. But a bit further north they're taking a seemingly ceaseless barrage, poor people. Luckily the govt. and emergency services are superb at times like these.

[king ubu]

Turns out I already have three of the albums on that set, so I will likely pass.

There's eight or nine albums included, AS WELL as plenty of unreleased material, and the chronological order puts things into their proper place, too ... I'd definitely go for it.

[George]

There's eight or nine albums included, AS WELL as plenty of unreleased material, and the chronological order puts things into their proper place, too ... I'd definitely go for it.

I'll keep that in mind, thanks. I want to spend some more time with the three I have to gauge my interest in the composer. And when it came time to put the Coltrane box on the shelf, I realized that I didn't have room for it.    So, going forward, I really have to prioritize what I buy (and start getting rid of stuff I don't listen to.) And that second part is really hard for me.

And before someone suggests going digital, thanks, but I am not interested.

[SimonNZ]

Willis Jackson - Loose (1963)
Harold Vick - Steppin Out (1963)



Ahmed Abdul-Malik - The Eastern Moods of Ahmed Abdul-Malik (1963)
Hank Jones - Here's Love (1963)

[Dee Sharp]

Dexter Gordon; Go! (1962) A fabulous album, extremely enjoyable.

[king ubu]

I'll keep that in mind, thanks. I want to spend some more time with the three I have to gauge my interest in the composer. And when it came time to put the Coltrane box on the shelf, I realized that I didn't have room for it.    So, going forward, I really have to prioritize what I buy (and start getting rid of stuff I don't listen to.) And that second part is really hard for me.

And before someone suggests going digital, thanks, but I am not interested.

That's a line of thought I've long abandoned - so reasonable, you know? 

Seriously, the new editions of these boxes will likely take up shelve space for around three discs, the old editions for five or six, in the case of the Coltrane set rather seven or eight. I have them all in their initial versions, the Coltrane was in fact the first box set I ever got (an x-mas wish when I was 14, I think - it was brand new and it took until mid or late January for the lousy delivery system of local shoppes to finally get it, though it was out in autumn already ...). The Mingus is the most substantial, bookletwise, the Ornette already had a paperback booklet in its initial run but was presented very nicely with those great Lee Friedlander photos of young Ornette. Would hope they found a way to incorporate them into the new package. The Coltrane with the seventh disc in a fake reel-box was kinda silly and wasting space from the git go, but it has a nice booklet and the fact that it's bound doesn't do any harm of course.

Either way, I love all three of those dearly! The Ornette is - musically - monumental, the other two are terrific but the contents do not form such a pinnacle in music history as does the Ornette. He would go on to do other great stuff of course, but as a group of recordings, these really drew the map newly, which can't quite be said of the Coltrane Atlantics, they're merely the kick-off to many great things to come, but these early sessions with McCoy Tyner and Elvin Jones (and Steve Davis on bass, who was later replaced by Reggie Workman and then by Jimmy Garrison) are like a breath of fresh air, they are different from what followed, and I love them a lot. (The date with Don Cherry - not Ornette, of course, Ornette's band sans leader - isn't entirely succesful alas, Coltrane needed heavier rhythm support, and wasn't ready to delve into these freer ranges, I feel.) The Mingus set is terrific but as he kept recording for many labels during his most important decade (c. 1955-1965), having a box restricted to one label offers only one part of the picture - one of the most important and largest parts though. He didn't record as many albums for any other label during his prime, but the Columbias (two of them), Candids (four plus of them, though only two were released back then) and Impulses (three of them, including the piano solo album), also the United Artist one ("Wonderland"), the Bethlehems (most notably "East Coasting"), the trio album with Hampton Hawes (Roulette) ... all of these belong together, and at the tail end we find the band with Dolphy, Coles, Jordan, Byard and Richmond on their way to Europe (the Mosaic set is wonderful, so are the two Enjas, the Fantasy and Blue Notes from before the departure, the sets from Paris on Revenge and Universal ...) and then upon their return in Monterey (again on the Mosaic) and at UCLA (released, as was the Paris Revenge set, by Sue Mingus, who was involved with the Mosaic set, which contains mostly stuff initially released on Jazz Workshop, Mingus' own label, shipped from their kitchen by Sue - the pre-departure Fantasy set is also on the Mosaic btw, with bonus material).

[king ubu]

I typed too fast.  I haven't listened to that box in years and had created something in my mind based on a faint memory.   

Toupet must've gotten you excited  - seriously, I was hesitant to even mention/correct the mistake, but I guess not everybody reading/lurking here can be presumed to know, so ...

[George]

That's a line of thought I've long abandoned - so reasonable, you know? 

Seriously, the new editions of these boxes will likely take up shelve space for around three discs, the old editions for five or six, in the case of the Coltrane set rather seven or eight. I have them all in their initial versions, the Coltrane was in fact the first box set I ever got (an x-mas wish when I was 14, I think - it was brand new and it took until mid or late January for the lousy delivery system of local shoppes to finally get it, though it was out in autumn already ...). The Mingus is the most substantial, bookletwise, the Ornette already had a paperback booklet in its initial run but was presented very nicely with those great Lee Friedlander photos of young Ornette. Would hope they found a way to incorporate them into the new package. The Coltrane with the seventh disc in a fake reel-box was kinda silly and wasting space from the git go, but it has a nice booklet and the fact that it's bound doesn't do any harm of course.

Yeah, that's just it. I like the older packaging, like on the Coltrane set. Plus, it will have more value when/if I resell it.

Either way, I love all three of those dearly! The Ornette is - musically - monumental, the other two are terrific but the contents do not form such a pinnacle in music history as does the Ornette. He would go on to do other great stuff of course, but as a group of recordings, these really drew the map newly, which can't quite be said of the Coltrane Atlantics, they're merely the kick-off to many great things to come, but these early sessions with McCoy Tyner and Elvin Jones (and Steve Davis on bass, who was later replaced by Reggie Workman and then by Jimmy Garrison) are like a breath of fresh air, they are different from what followed, and I love them a lot. (The date with Don Cherry - not Ornette, of course, Ornette's band sans leader - isn't entirely succesful alas, Coltrane needed heavier rhythm support, and wasn't ready to delve into these freer ranges, I feel.)

Yes, they are a breath of fresh air. And as important as I know Ornette's stuff is, I still need to grow in appreciation for his music. The three discs I have (Free Jazz, Shape Of Things and Change of the Century) are stored in a booklet, from the days when I had even less space for music. I plan to pull these discs out and listen to them soon. Listening to Change of The Century at work now via Spotify. Sounds good!

[king ubu]

I think "Coltrane's Sound" has some of his best Atlantic material. Not sure inhowfar "approved" is a category of any relevance there, I'd assume masters were called during sessions and if they were not released in proximity, they could still be released later (a release such as the LP full of alternate takes would be more doubtful in that respect, "Legacy" on the other hand had the best tracks of the lovely but not great album with Milt Jackson ... weird thing there) ... the same happened at Prestige, not just to him, but that was regular business practice: to record as much as you can and then release it in a pace that the market could keep up with (i.e. two albums per year, still a crazy tempo by nowadays' standards - but then in the meantime we saw David Murray do what, a dozen per year for a dozen of years? not quite, but ...). One of my most beloved Prestige's actually is "The Last Trane", which really culled the final unreleased tracks from three sessions ... but most of those tracks were actually better or at least as good as than the ones released earlier on various other albums (I tend to find the splitting of sessions onto various albums and thus albums consisting of material from various sessions a somewhat dreadful thing at Prestige's and wherever else it also happened). I have since given up the original albums in most cases and went with the three gorgeously presented thematic boxed sets (Fearless Leader, Side Steps, Inter ... play? leader dates, sideman dates, co-led dates/jam sessions).

Now playing some easy on the ears stuff as working day slowly comes to an end:

[Spineur]

Strjon, Arve Henriksen

http://www.arvehenriksen.com/discography/strjon.html

[Spineur]

Back to 1964

Horace Silver

[asin]B00000IL27[/asin]

[SimonNZ]

Mose Allison - Mose Allison Sings (1963)

RIP




Willis Jackson - The Good Life (1963)
Blue Mitchell - Step Lightly (1963)



George Braith Soul Stream (1963)
Ronnie Matthews - Doin'The Thang (1963)

[Spineur]

Thomas Enhco is one of R. Casadessus sons

[king ubu]

[SimonNZ]

Booker Ervin - The Song Book (1964)
A.K.Salim - Afro-Soul/Drum Orgy (1964)

[king ubu]

Sad to know him gone ... he retired a while back and alas I never managed to catch him live. This set compiling three Columbia albums recorded 1959/60 has been among my favourites of his for a while.

[Andante]

https://www.youtube.com/v/qlYXF0gQrKU

[SimonNZ]

Gary McFarland - Soft Samba (1964)
Ahmed Abdul-Malik - Spellbound (1964)

[king ubu]

Yeah, sad loss.  Are those Back Country Suite, Local Color and Tranfiguration of Hiram Brown?  I couldn't remember the titles but remembered the covers:

Sorry for being too lazy to type album names ... played all three in a row, mighty good (lots of it instrumental). I guess even earlier he was the more interesting piano player, but then I love his songs and his dry delivery.

The musical programme today, so far:



Charlie Haden Liberation Music Orchestra - Time/Life | This really is the final Haden album, if the liner notes (by Ruth Cameron Haden and Carla Bley) are to be trusted (which I do). The LMO is mostly still the edition heard on its previous album "Not In Our Name" (Sharon Freeman and Miguel Zenon have been replaced by Vincent Chancey and Loren Stillman, respectively). The topic at hand this time is environment and the way mankind treats it. We get two great tunes from the Jazz Middelheim festival in 2011 which proved to be one of Haden's final appearances, in his talk one notices already that he has some trouble ... his demise went fast in 2012, alas, but they had two new tunes prepared for the tour (the ones from Middelheim, Bley's arrangement of Davis' "Blue in Green" and of Haden's own 1979 tune "Song for the Whales", which open and close the album). Then we get the LMO's version of the Bley staple "Útviklingssong", which fits in as it was written in reply to a scandal about a planned dam to be built in the north of Norvay ... they took this on tour in 2011 as they played Oslo after Antwerp). Fourth song is an old Bley tune that Haden wanted her to arrange for the band, "Silent Spring", and finally we get the title track, which is Bley's hommage to Haden, written after she was informed of his death by Cameron. Strong solos by Tony Malaby, Chris Cheek, Michael Rodriguez, Curtis Folwkes, Loren Stillman, and Haden itself ... and on the title tune, after a long Malaby workout, everyone gets a chance to blow. On the three 2015 studio tracks, Steve Swallow steps in on bass - both a logical choice and a smart choice, as his sound and trademark delivery is so different and as immediately recognizable as Haden's own playing. A mighty fine last album, I'd say - though it still almost moves me to tears to remember that Haden is gone.

Now I'm back with Wadada Leo Smith:





Angelica Sanchez/Wadada Leo Smith - Twinde Forest (Clean Feed)
Wadada Leo Smith/Günter Baby Sommer - Wisdom in Time (Intakt)
Wadada Leo Smith - The Great Lakes Suites (TUM)

The first two are duo albums, the one with Sanchez rather darkish and restrained, really beautiful, stark stuff. The one with Sommer is more playful, Smith involving electronics, yet also letting his ever beautiful tone sing, Sommer also switching to all kinds of devices. This was recorded around the time they played a duo gig in Zurich, which alas I missed. Saw Smith for the first time (twice!) during the Jazzfest Berlin (I still owe a report in the other thread I started, I know - but caught some sh*t and was in bed for almost a week, unable to focus on anything for more than half an hour, really). In Berlin, he played with what he calls his Great Lakes Quartet, consisting of a mighty good young sax player named Jonathon Haffner, bassist John Lindberg and the great Marcus Gilmore on drums. The initial Great Lakes band on the TUM double disc set is pretty enticing, too, though: Henry Threadgill, Lindberg, Jack DeJohnette. This is a first listen, hearing Smith in concert prompted me to order a few recent and not-so-recent recordings of his that I didn't yet have (some on the wantlist for a while, but this one, although I'm a big Threadgill fan, I was totally unaware of so far).