Spurred on by my wifes love of Ornette Coleman and a forgotten but typically perceptive comment by Tony L on the importance of trying new music some time ago, I've been trying out a variety of avant garde, new jazz, nu music but have happened these musicians and struck gold.
David S Ware "Godspellized" a few years old now but the most beautiful blowing, intense sheets of sound extravaganza. Ware (tenor), Parker (Bass), Shipp (piano), Suzie Ibarra (drums)(women are the best drummers these days).
Matthew Shipp's (New Orbit)- Cosmic Consciousness it says on the inside cover and that is a very accurate summary. Shipp (piano), Parker (bass), Gerald Cleaver (drums), Wadada Leo Smith (trumpet). Great record. I though Smith sounded like Dave Douglas in passages then I looked him up . This guy was in the AACM and played with Anthony Braxton! How to play like Miles Davis might in an "out" band.
William Parker " Painters Spring" Only a few records come along and are immediate classics. I may be a dope but this is one. The most extraordinary bass playing. Hamid Drake plays drums, on this evidence better than anyone else on the planet. Daniel Carter plays alt, tenor,flute and clarinet. I thought there were sounds of Eric Dolphy in there? Compelling.
I realise this may be a minority interest but the Parker record is a classic. If anyone wants to try modern (jazz) music at its very best buy this record.
The last two are on the brilliantly named Thirsty Ear record label. They also release Birthday Party , Pere Ubu, David Thomas, Brave Captain (didn't I see this band mentioned somewhere here), Mark Almond, Jim Foetus etc. www.thirstyear.com
John
If anyone has further recommendations on this lot I'd love to hear them
p.s This also makes me want to dig out that Modern Dance Pere Ubu this weekend.
pps William Parker's sound on the Bass!!! Im listening to the Ware version of Sun Ra's Stargazers. Incredible!
[This message was edited by John C on THURSDAY 15 March 2001 at 23:46.]
Posted on: 18 March 2001 by John C
Stewart, great career advice! I've taken the blood and will do the PCR in the lab tomorrow. I'm leaning towards X linked recessive with variable penetrance though. And with the recent identification of the musicality gene I'm thinking 20 mls of blood from Wynton Marsalis and Cecil Taylor and I can answer the old Trad vs Modernists question once and for all. Letter to Nature anyway don't you think?
By the way I've listened to the Parker disc all weekend, its better than I first said. He lays down a groove well second to none. Way better than all this jazz/dance cross over stuff we have in Europe. Think Howling Wolf vs Rolling Stones.
John
Now can anyone get me that blood?
Posted on: 03 December 2001 by John C
More great releases in the Thirsty Ear "Blue series"
Tim Berne "Shell Game" Berne on alto, Craig Taborn synths and electronica, Tom Rainey drums.
Fantastic. I really like it. Berne plays his usual long freeish blowouts with some bluesy, funky moments and is backed by great drumming and the synths taking the bass spot.Not being a synth man myself I like Taborn here. matthew shipp also plays synt on the new David S Ware disc and I think these guys are the real new voices of jazz.
Mat Maneri "Blue Decco" Another cracker by the king of the avant garde violin. The monumental William Parker on bass, Taborn on piano, Gerald Clever on drums. Ehh groovy.Especially a down right brilliant deeep tune called Blue Sun which has a great great bassline from the master.
And if you are in the mood
Peter Brotzmann Die Like a Dog Quartet... "Little Birds have fast Hearts (no 1 and 2)(FMP). Recorded Live at the total music meeting Berlin 1997 .. the worlds greatest drummer Hamid Drake, the monumental william Parker and Toshiro Kondo on trumpet and electronics and weird sounds (was that a cat being strangled) . Tremendous and although classified as avant garde difficult music, rather lyrical and beautiful. Parker and Drake really anchoring the whole enterprise.A small masterpiece.
Evan Parker "Lines burnt in light" (Psi) Imagine a flock of pterodactyls trapped in the eagle cage at London Zoo. Three pieces 27 , 12 and 22 minutes long, solo soprano prolonged circular breathing tour de force. I rather like it. I've decide that Evan's music is rather like meditation or suspended animation, it certainly is extraordinary.
John.
[This message was edited by John C on MONDAY 03 December 2001 at 20:40.]
[This message was edited by John C on MONDAY 03 December 2001 at 20:41.]
Posted on: 04 December 2001 by John C
Hock, I worry about the sound from my humble Nait 5 and would love to buy a HiCap, a pre-power etc etc. Two sides of the same coin.I just prefer records so much more than machines.Maybe high end systems remove some of the raw immediacy that cheaper ones preserve? I dunno.
This year I have really got into avant garde modern jazz because of being consistently disappointed by other more mainstream jazz releases (Jason Moran, Greg Osby, even the latest Dave Holland). I'm lucky enough to be able to see a lot of live jazz living in London and seeing people like Shipp/Parker, the excellent Ken Vandermark, Oliver Lake/Reggie Workman/Andrew Cyrille to name a few has made me realise that this is the kind of music I want to listen to. It also helps that I am a child of rock/punk and loved Iggy and the Stooges, the Fall, Beefheart ie the noisier difficult side.
I would also say that I have bought all Ornette's Atlantic's on LP. This is one of the greatest bodies of work in any form of music. I think its so much easier to really get to grips with him on LP rather than the daunting box. However Im still getting the box for Christmas.
I can honestly say that if the HIFI is getting in the way of music change it. In my view Tony Lonorgan has it absolutely right. My priorities after live music are enjoying the records buying them, cleaning them, listening to them, talking bollox about them here (although I suspect you are the only one listening to me) and generally behaving in the same way I did when I was 15.I am much happier being a vinyl junkie than a box junkie.
John.
ps I really recommend trying out Henri Texier on Label Bleu either Mosaic man, or Ramparts D'argille, a tremendous mixture of swinging jazz, Ornettish riffs and subtle N African rhythmns.
