Rolling Jazz Thread 2020

https://brandonseabrook.bandcamp.com/album/exultations

fab new album by inspired noise-jazz merchant Brandon Seabrook is out. Featuring Gerald Cleaver on drums and diddley bow player Cooper-Moore (i'll cop to not knowing wtf one of them is).

That's a really good album. I reviewed it here.

I first heard Seabrook as a part of the CP Unit and always thought he was the best thing about the CP Unit! Brilliant guitarist.

new mulatu astatke w/ black jesus experience today! had no idea this was coming out even.

Thinking about starting a Miles Lost Quintet listening/discussion thread -- would there be interest in that?

Yep.

Late to the party but the Anna Högberg Attack LP is excellent indeed.

I don't think I need the actual album, but this is a hell of a cover:

https://f4.bcbits.com/img/a3912651398_16.jpg

https://spiritualjazz.bandcamp.com/album/spiritual-jazz-12-impulse

01. John Coltrane - A Love Supreme Pt. I - Acknowledgement
02. Elvin Jones - Fantazm
03. Max Roach - Lonesome Lover
04. Yusef Lateef - Sister Mamie
05. Freddie Hubbard- The 7th Day
06. McCoy Tyner - Three Flowers
07. Elvin Jones - Half And Half
08. McCoy Tyner - Groove Waltz
09. Archie Shepp - Le Matin Des Noire
10. Michael White - The Blessing Song
11. Alice Coltrane - Turiya And Ramakrishna
12. Phil Woods - Taste Of Honey
13. Pharoah Sanders - Hum-Allah-Hum-Allah-Hum-Allah
14. John Klemmer - Constant Throb Pt. 1
15. Pharoah Sanders - Thembi
16. Marion Brown - Maimoun
17. Alice Coltrane - Journey In Satchidananda

yeah awesome photo. I have the first volume of this series, and it's really good iirc, but I have never even heard any of the others--does anyone rate any of them particularly?

nothing says "spiritual jazz against racism" quite like phil woods' ersatz-grecian rendition of "taste of honey"

I have the first volume of this series, and it's really good iirc, but I have never even heard any of the others--does anyone rate any of them particularly?

I bought the CD version of two Japanese volumes, which appear to be sold out:

https://spiritualjazz.bandcamp.com/album/spiritual-jazz-8-japan-pt-1

https://spiritualjazz.bandcamp.com/album/spiritual-jazz-8-japan-pt-2

yeah those are cool, in my case i've used them as references and then tracked down the albums that feature tracks i've liked best.

not sure why anybody needs help finding recommendations for spiritual jazz on impulse or blue note. the one focused on steeplechase is like a nice mix tape, but again almost everything here is also worth tracking down on the original records imho

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WCSZ0roaS_Q

it's taken 12 volumes to get to A Love Supreme?

The early volumes included a lot more cool obscure shit...or maybe I've dug deep enough now that more of what they're releasing seems obvious to me. I can't be sure anymore. I think I'm gonna buy their Blue Note compilation, though; it looks like there's a lot of good stuff on there. I've created a Spotify playlist with all the tracks.

beautiful photo, classic application of karate hikite

new kahil el zabar album is dope

agreed, absolutely dope organ sound on it

does anybody know if there's a recording available online of

Bill Dixon Ensemble ‎– Live At Bennington College 1969
w/
andrew cyrille
arthur doyle
sam rivers
et al.

?

can't seem to track one down

Both audio and video recordings exist, but neither are online, afaik. This was part of a dance piece; Dixon was hired alongside dancer-choreographer Judith Dunn (who wrote the uncredited liner notes for Dixon’s Intents And Purposes) for Bennington’s Dance Divison in 1968.

His archives were donated to New York University, so that’s presumably where these (and many, many other) tapes currently reside.

It’s possible, and likely, that the audio was broadcast on Ben Young’s “Bill Dixon Radio” show on WKCR in the ‘90s. If so, any recording available online would be taped from that broadcast. There was a 1968 (I think, from the University Of The Streets) orchestra piece of Dixon’s that made the rounds about 10 years ago, accompanied by a brief interview snippet about the notation on Intents And Purposes.

i was hoping you'd see my post and response. thanks for this info.

at least part of the bennington performance is here fwiw:

https://www.discogs.com/Bill-Dixon-Ensemble-Live-At-Bennington-College/release/11628429

and respond*

Yeah, I remember seeing that release. It’s obviously a bootleg, but also has horrible sound quality, from what I’ve read.

right and also i'm just not going to pay those stupid euro bootleg prices, the whole scene just bums me out

been on that kahil el zabar album since yesterday, so good I'm going to have start listening to everything else by him now.

thank you to deej for mentioning that album. I keenly regret skipping an Ethnic Heritage Ensemble show in February

new kahil el zabar album is dope

― ILX’s bad boy (D-40), Friday, 10 July 2020 17:02 (three days ago) link

agreed, absolutely dope organ sound on it

― calzino, Saturday, 11 July 2020 08:39 (two days ago) link

Thanks for this. I was really digging this today.

fuck yes to david murray, this record is just what i need right now

listening to his tribute album to malachi favors (big m). he is my new favourite percussionist.

I'm not as in love with this as everyone else, but I do like track 5 a lot.

Yeah, first two tracks---first 30 minutes, seem like predictable 70s settings, first one is kinda like a Pharoah show, but without the overall dynamics, second one has the Leon Thomas voice getting more Al Jarreau, with maybe Brian Jackson fan on keys---Murray sounded fine on the opener, but here he starts to slip into the dimebag elevator space with the rest of 'em---however, "Songs of Myself" has chilly Larry Young-type organ, good vibes Iintstrument, unless it's a good keyboard setting), that beat, *then* Murray, tearing at the edges, good stuff. Out of time for now, after that 40-minute segment, but will come back for sure. Although---I've got a lot of good-to-great albums by or featuring Murray, in a variety of contexts, all of them applying a bit more brainpower than this---also, I'm still catching up with the actual 70s, not that interested in recycling, usually, but I admit "Songs of Myself" got me.

(Also I like Kamasi Washington pretty well---I mean, if you're gonna invoke/evoke the 70s as ongoing urban spirit trek, do it right.)

I love the singing on both of them tracks, and it's not derivative in a bad way imo it almost goes into deep house territory, splendid stuff!

Just now enjoyed listening to the rest: Murray's soloing on "Katon" didn't strike me as always being up to his usual standard, which is pretty high o course---but by then, didn't even matter: the rest of it was that good. "In The Spirit" was catchy spirit, "Trane In Mind" more of a piano feature than expected, not too Tynery--both of these were refreshing, by far the shortest tracks---and omg "One World Family" the perfectly extended finale---so I did like most of it after all.

i dont think kahil el zabar is 'doing the 70s' lol i mean hes just been making music for decades...

Anyway, most of it's good. Felt lousy all morning---then I heard this!
Legendary vibraphonist and “Father of Ethio-jazz”, Mulatu Astatke joins forces with Melbourne-based eight-piece Black Jesus Experience on their latest album To Know Without Knowing, an absorbing nine-track assembly of majestic Ethiopian melodies and hip-hop-infused jazz and funk groovesAlso Latin, reggae extrapolations, 16-bar blues (as a bed for much else), instrumental inflections from at least five different countries of origin, cool but committed female voices, incisive rap, psychedelic guitar (one trip, but that's enough, for "Living On Stolen Land" (Ain't it graaand"):Its moody 6/8 vamp in D is a gateway, yes.) And they've got wedding song, a send-off to the afterlife, other serious fun---that flugelhorn omg:https://mulatuastatkeblackjesusexperience.bandcamp.com/album/to-know-without-knowing

Asher Gamedze, Dialectic Soul:"Fundamentally, it is about the reclamation of the historical imperative. It is about the dialect of the soul & the spirit while it moves through history. The soul is dialectic. Motion is imperative. We keep moving." For instance, in the opening "Emergence Suite," tenor sax and trumpet can seize on moments all they like or or must, while bass & drums are like,"Yeah, yeah, that's good, that's good, come on now, mind your head, good." Also perfectly supportive of, never submissive to horn comments and slender, strong singing in "Siyabulela." Then a witty, fabulistic stroll through enormity in "Interregnum," where "the hopscotch ended much as it began" along the way (Don't worry, that's almost all for the voices). "Eternality" is more work-out than bliss-out, but good between the couch potato headphones. "Hope In Azania" is adrenaline afterglow in second wind, not too hopeful, but reasonably so it seems; oh yeah Speculative Fourth" does eventually let a human sing along some more with the horns, for a little while, sorry anti-voxxers.
https://ashergamedze.bandcamp.com/album/dialectic-soul

so excited for this https://nubyagarcia.bandcamp.com/album/source

the first single is out today and WOWzer it's a blast

I've heard the whole thing and yeah, it's really good. She's also got a track on an upcoming Blue Note compilation of UK artists reworking classic songs from the catalog; she does Joe Henderson's "A Shade of Jade."

The new Akinmusire record is really lovely, almost surprisingly so tbh.

xpost oh yeah, I posted about that on the Moses Boyd thread, thanks for the reminder:

Out later this year,'Blue Note Re:imagined' is a contemporary take on the label's timeless output, a newly recorded collection of songs by a broad cross-section of fresh voices.

It's a broad spread, too, moving from Ezra Collective and Shabaka Hutchings through to Yazmin Lacey, Alfa Mist, and Nubya Garcia.

Jorja Smith opted to tackle St Germain's 'Rose Rouge', which sampled Marlena Shaw’s vastly influential 'Cookin With Blue Note At Montreux' album.[ Play it via this post:
https://www.clashmusic.com/news/jorja-smith-tackles-blue-note-classic-rose-rouge Maybe too
2000 loungey at first, but builds. (Later:) Def growing on me!!

Out now, it's the perfect lead in to the project, which follows Blue Note's 80th anniversary celebrations last year

Release date is Sept. 25---not seeing titles for all the tracks yet, but looks like this is complete artist list: Shabaka Hutchings, Ezra Collective, Nubya Garcia, Mr Jukes, Steam Down, Skinny Pelembe, Emma-Jean Thackray, Poppy Ajudha, Jordan Rakei, Fieh, Ishmael Ensemble, Blue Lab Beats, Melt Yourself Down, Yazmin Lacey, Alfa Mist, and Brit Award-winning Jorja Smith. Some titles on Blue Note site, more on Amazon Music (Blue Note says digital is US-only).

I got the promo yesterday. Full track listing is:

Jorja Smith - Rose Rouge
Ezra Collective - Footprints
Poppy Ajudha - Watermelon Man
Jordan Rakei - Wind Parade
Skinny Pelembe - Illusion (Silly Apparition)
Alfa Mist - Galaxy
Ishmael Ensemble - Search for Peace
Nubya Garcia - A Shade of Jade
Steam Down - Etcetera
Blue Lab Beats - Montara
Yazmin Lacey - I'll Never Stop Loving You
Fieh - Armageddon
Mr Jukes - Maiden Voyage
Shabaka Hutchings - Prints Tie
Melt Yourself Down - Caribbean Fire Dance
Emma-Jean Thackray - Speak No Evil/Night Dreamer

looks amazing can't wait to hear it

i liked the jorja smith & im typically kind of lukewarm on her music

Yeah, that one quickly grew on me, ending up playing it three times in a row.

(listing these artists in the order on album cover and credits below, though it's damu's page)(also because he has a stupid name)
Archie Shepp, Damu The Fudgemunk, Raw Poetic, Ocean Bridges: good title for extended fluid grooves (Wurlitzer piano and vibes, framing and framed by selective guitar, tenacious bass, chop-and-roll drums, cut across by soprano and tenor sax, a little turntablism, and Raw Poetic's tuneful radio flow, switching back and forth from singing to rapping, sometimes syllable-to-syllable) between shorter, smaller-group, more down to earth exchanges (but still speculative and sometimes maybe splicey, slightly like riffling a deck of cards)("Professor Shepp's Agenda 1" is spoken, but brief and apt; the other 6 shorties are instrumental). Overall, it's pretty lengthy---the longest excursion, "Aperture," might be too diffuse---but I soon stopped thinking of taking a break; so far, it pulls me right through.
Hopeful, rueful, been around, ready for more, guess why they call it the blues.
released May 22, 2020

All songs written & performed by:
Archie Shepp: Tenor and Soprano Sax, Wurlitzer Electric Piano
Raw Poetic (Jason Moore): Vocals/Raps/Lyrics
Earl "Damu the Fudgemunk" Davis: Drums, Vibraphone, Backing Vocals, Turntable Scratching, Mixing/ Production
Pat Fritz: Guitar
Aaron Gause: Wurlitzer Electric Piano, Synthesizer
Luke Stewart: Acoustic and Electric bass
Jamal Moore: Tenor sax, Percussion
Bashi Rose: Drums, Percussion

Except: track 12 written by Pat Fritz and Jason Moore and tracks 3, 5, 7, 9, 11, 13 and 15 written by Archie Shepp

All Tracks Produced and Arranged by Raw Poetic

https://damuthefudgemunk.bandcamp.com/album/ocean-bridges

PS: also check https://bandcamp.com/search?q=Archie%20Shepp Incl. several albums I'd never heard of!

Oops, should have put Raw Poetic right behind Shepp, but Earl "Damu" Davis def right in there, as are they all.

Just got a really interesting album sent to me: History Gets Ahead of the Story is an organ trio date with Jeff Lederer on sax, John Medeski on organ, and Jeff Cosgrove (with whom I was not previously familiar, but he's got two albums with Matt Shipp on piano and William Parker on bass, so I'm gonna have to check those out for sure). Almost all the tunes are by Parker, written for his quartet (with Lewis "Flip" Barnes on trumpet, Rob Brown on alto sax, and Hamid Drake on drums; they occasionally add vocalist Leena Conquest and work under the name Raining On The Moon). The quartet and RotM have made some of my favorite Parker recordings, so I'm very intrigued to see how these three recast that music.

http://motiansickness.bandcamp.com/album/history-gets-ahead-of-the-story

apart from the releases under the ROTM moniker and the quartet stuff (or even within these), what william parker would you recommend ? i've checked out a few of the m. shipp trio recordings and also enjoyed 2018's "seraphic light" (with daniel carter and shipp) but apart from that i find his discography really daunting. any notable recordings where he shines as sideman, or notable compositions, or really any must-listens ?

(for unperson or anyone else who has an opinion)

I just learned Cosgrove lives in my small town!

not so boring anymore