Thank you, Inconstant Sol
June 3, 2008I’ve been trying to reunite myself with this record, Bush Baby by Arthur Blythe, for a long time.
Archive for the ‘jazz’ Category
Ken Vandermark special on KFJC this Tues.
May 7, 2008Per his website. The 5 hour show, called “Applying The Principles Of The Jazz Dialectic: An Aural History of the Vandermark 5,” will include unreleased/rare music and an interview. Here’s KFJC’s programming info, and netcast info.
Recent aquisitions 20080403: Jazz or something.
April 3, 2008Light at the Crossroads by Marty Ehrlich and Ben Goldberg. With Trevor Dunn and Kenney Wolleson. Great stuff, go get it now. Real Audio samples at the label’s page for the album.
Monk’s Mood by the Dave Liebman Trio (Adam Nussbaum, Eddie Gomez). These guys are great, and I can’t really say that you shouldn’t go get this, but an album of Monk tunes should be…I don’t know…funnier. It’s like they’re afraid to commit silliness to tape. Also, the emphasis is on mid-tempo, infra-mid-tempo, and meta-infra-mid-tempo, which definitely works against what humor they have. Still, these are great players who are under-represented in my collection.
MySpace earns its pay for the week (listening diary/recent acquisitions).
February 21, 2008I forget why I was thinking about Trevor Dunn (probably something to do with the fact that he’s a great bass player), but I clicked on his MySpace. Before I could hit the mute button (which I always do first thing on my infrequent surfings there), his MySpace player played me a track from Six Litanies for Heliogabalus, which totally outragiously rocked without stopping, so I bought it. While I had my wallet out, I also bought The Same and the Other by the Ahleuchatistas. It’s sector of soundspace is triangulated by the Molecules, the Meat Puppets, and (sorry fellas) Rush. In a good way. (Someone else might have said Beefheart or something).
Something else that bears raving is Ice Cream Time by Nick Didkovsky. Sounds like Dr. Nerve, but it’s just a sax quartet and Didkovsky on guitar (there’s live laptop/electronics too but they’re not out in front). It totally works. And I also picked up and am digging Urban Mythology vol. One by Free Form Funky Freqs (Reid/Tacuma/Weston), I gotta go but here’s someone else’s review.
Listening diary: highlights from this month’s emusic take.
January 31, 2008Sexotica by Sex Mob- This one is really really fun.
Beat Reader by the Vandermark 5- Great rock-infused improv. I was a big fan of the Vandermark Quartet back before I fell off the edge of the earth.
Betty Davis by Betty Davis Stanky funk that’ll stain your underwear, one way or another. Sly Stone via Captain Beefheart (except, you know, a chick), with an massively gutsy band that includes Larry Graham, Neal Schon, and dudes from Sly’s band, Graham Central Station, and Tower of Power. Thanks for the hot tip, Dren.
Live, Love, Larf, and Loaf by French, Frith, Kaiser, Thompson. 4 exceptionally talented (!) droogies hang out and make a record. What’s not to like?
Funky Donkey by Luther Thomas Party music from the 1973, AACM stylie. Lester Bowie, Bobo Taylor, JD Parran, and Joe Bowie! Why didn’t I have this record in 1986 when I listened to nothing but Defunkt (self link)? As much as I like it, the Amazon listmaker who writes “if the hole in the middle of the disc was bigger i’d have sex with it” may actually like it marginally more.
Recent acquisitions, 20080109
January 9, 2008Planxty - eponymous first record. High quality Irish folk music, much more traditional that Steeleye or Fairport. Wikipedia.
Melvin Jackson- Funky Skull. Late sixties R&B/Jazz hybrid with the melody work being handled by Jackson playing an upright bass through an ancestral form of the envelope filter. He kinda sounds like the grown ups on peanuts, and I mean that in a good way. Appearances by Leo Smith, Roscoe Mitchel, and Lester Bowie. Elsewhere geblogkt.
Trio of Doom- Not a bad record at all, but given that it’s Tony fucking Williams, John fucking McLaughlin, and Jaco fuckingfuckmemotherfucker Pastorious, I have to wonder, is that really the best they could do?
This isn’t why I love sax players, but I’ll take it!
October 23, 2007In a perfect universe, we would’nt need saxophonists to explain how to play bass. But since we do, I’m glad that Michael Zilber nailed it. Now if only someone would come up with a drug or neuro-surgical procedure that would stop me from fucking up the form.
Jim Black is a great rock drummer.
October 10, 2007After I wrote this link to a post about rock-influenced jazz, I went to Amoeba to see if I could buy any of the cd’s discussed. They weren’t there so I picked up Jim Black’s Splay. Them I got Meg Nem Sa from amazon’s new mp3 download service, and while I was there I also got the not-so-new-except-to-me Human Feel (Wikipedia, MySpace) output Speak to It. Long story short after the jump.
Tyft, Camisetas, and Limousine- these look interesting.
September 20, 2007A Free Jazz post about three “rock-influenced jazz albums.” (1, 2, 3) by Hilmar Jensson, Camisetas (no website AFAICT, link is to Jim Black), and Limousine (ditto, link to Maxime Delpierre).
