Rolling Jazz Thread 2021

Oh, here is the title cut from the original album, still sounds grebt!
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sGT5kHpmH78

Thanks!! Yeah, xgau liked young Coryell a lot, and btw even though he and the other Free Spirits disowned their s/t studio album, fw by suits, Live At The Scene, which came out in 2011, with notes by Bob Moses, who was in or from high school with those dive flights were recorded by a single overhead mic, I think he says, is a lot of fun.

*when* those dive flights were recorded.

Oh, looks like the Free Spirits LP, which I always picture w just their name, actually was titled Out of Sight and Sound: the last part was right, but not as the suits intended us to think.

Here's something Xgau wrote that discussed Coryell: https://www.robertchristgau.com/xg/rock/jazz-71.php

Yeah like how he starts out kinda mumblecore and stoned and wry and otherwise self-involved and (that was a weird year for sure) builds to finale of last two grafs (though still kinda low-key re passing mention of Devotion but think he got more excited when he came back to it later), and will have to check Gato's Fenix, don't recall that title at all.

His later Consumer Guide comments on Coryell releases reflect my impression that he turned out (at least for a while) to be one of those gifted guitarists who could play in a wide variety of styles, and seemed to drift through all of them: here's an album of Texas blues, here's some things I heard in Brazil, here's some bop--cool, but why not just listen to the originals? Maybe he found enough direction for momentum of interest later, I dunno--but oh that youth---I really didn't like most of what got tagged as fusion, but even what I've heard of garish period elements on Eleventh House albums have winning exuberance, just letting it fly in the Face ov Thee Master or whatevs (whether he got into Scientology or numerology or macrobiotic heroin, didn't matter then, not while platters were spinning)

Wonder how his album with Emily Remler is (or was there more than one)?

Somewhere I read a description by Robert Wyatt of a club show where Coryell tried to "duel" with Hendrix, and Hendrix wiping out Coryell's playing with a single power chord.

The Lady Coryell album is a confounding, barely listenable mess.

Believe he had some kind of obsession with Hendrix so not surprised at that story.

The Coryell/Hendrix story is told by Robert Wyatt in Charles Shaar Murray's Crosstown Traffic. Coryell got up to try to cut Hendrix at a club, on the erroneous assumption that his thorough harmonic knowledge and bebop chops would put him over. So after Coryell finished, Hendrix got up, went bowOOWWWW, and as Wyatt put it, "just erased the last ten minutes. It was like walking into a blowtorch. The fool!"

Looool.

I like the Coryell stuff in high school when my friends and I were played tasteless jazz-rock-jam band gigs and it sorta legitimized it, but have no desire to go back to it now.

The early stuff was fun, but that story (like another one about Johnny Winter jamming w Jimi) reminds me of when I went to an Eric Clapton concert in the late 70s, because Muddy Waters was opening. I was kicked back in stoned complacency, even okay with the record playing before the show started, Jefferson Starship or some shit---but his first note jabbed me out of my seat and fully awake for the whole set, quite an achievement---and the audience was as one in that. Clapton, opening with "Badge," was able to capitalize on this, as long as he played the hits and FM-familiar album tracks---but his non-jazz, complicated-as-"complex", sort of prog-blues treks, with Albert Lee, maybe, got crickets in response, although I (still stoned) liked it pretty well. But, maybe especially because this was the Age of Punk in Tuscaloosa, with students blasting "Rock Lobster" and Ramones from their hovels, Mud's music seemed much more timely than that of the younger EC.

First track of this is real feel-good stuff, I dig. out today on Astral Spirits.

https://quinkirchner.bandcamp.com/album/live-at-pro-musica

His album from last year was fantastic. I'll have a listen to that later.

Kevin Whitehead on new Julius Hemphill box: he warns of zig-zag roughness, but def. recommends--really appealing excepts, may have to buy:
Hemphill was a founding member and principal composer for the World Saxophone Quartet. The Boyé Multi-National Crusade for Harmony features seven discs of newly released music from his archives.
stream, download:https://www.npr.org/2021/03/05/973981703/crusade-for-harmony-surveys-the-life-work-of-saxophonist-julius-hemphill

Dutch guitar player Anton Goudsmit has a new release scheduled later this month, but they did a video stream from the Bimhuis with a new band. The music sounds more introverted than his other output (kind of Frisell-ish maybe), but there's a lot going on harmonically/rhythmically.

https://benmonder.bandcamp.com/album/live-at-55-bar

sick Monder/Malaby/Rainey set here.

Bobby Previte shared a recording of The President recorded at CBGB's and in the studio during the 80s.

Intriguing coverage by Peter Margasak, incl. backstory:

Considering the seemingly boundless spring of archival music collections in the marketplace, it’s surprising that so few of them provide genuine revelations outside of micro-details about how a particular tune may have developed over time or has been shaped in a studio. Box set fatigue is understandable, but there are exceptions.

Take, for example, a recent seven-CD excavation of holdings in the archive of the brilliant reedist and composer Julius Hemphill, which not only consists exclusively of previously unissued recordings, but also goes a long way in filling out the complex story of this multifaceted artist whose breadth and vision were seriously short-changed by the recording industry.

https://downbeat.com/news/detail/julius-hemphills-crusade

What a cute couple
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=p7keXVgj0xk

I like her albums better than anything I've ever heard by him.

Yeah I can't really stand his tone, the only album I ever listened to from him is 'Play', because of Ben Perowsky and Scofield on it. I've never investigated her stuff, but now I'm curious.

I talked to Joe Chambers for the new Burning Ambulance podcast. He has some thoughts about Milford Graves (and free jazz drumming in general)...

Links to listen are below, if you're interested.

Osiris: https://bit.ly/3qyFRl2
Apple: https://apple.co/2OcUqO6
Spotify: https://spoti.fi/2ODfMnF

I listened the other day and enjoyed it. Even though I appreciate Milford Graves, I have a lot of sympathy for his pov. Rejecting the pulse entirely can be just as limiting as the rhythmic grid, since then you're basically left with texture and density (in terms of a musical conversation). And of course MG had a whole conceptual framework to go along with the musical one, it's hard to talk about these things without the social context.

But purely musically, I find it a lot more satisfying to listen to someone stretching the boundaries within the context of a pulse, and a little pulse-less music goes a long way.

Speaking of Ben Perowsky, looks like one of my favorite albums of all time is now streaming and on Bandcamp:
https://benperowsky.bandcamp.com/album/ben-perowsky-trio
https://open.spotify.com/album/3t1PNw6bl6kHj8Xo8Z59vH?si=HUlKes4ORCeGJtqzX7_EoQ

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

Everybody's talking about that.

Yeah, I like how he preserves the melody faithfully in the top voice through individually ringing harmonics and stopped notes even while developing four-voice harmony and counterpoint under it.

Did you learn how to do that in that workshop?

Heh, he'd probably need more than a single workshop to teach it.

I remember him telling me about the blessing he got from another guitarist who was interested in counterpoint and multiline improv.

Somebody told me to watch this before it goes away
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dtNWuZgWNQo

Guitarist Julian Lage has signed to Blue Note; his debut for the label, Squint, will be out in June. Here's the first track, "Saint Rose," with Jorge Roeder on bass and Dave King on drums:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=feli3FwOiso

Speaking of Dave King, Orrin Evans has left the Bad Plus after two albums. King and Reid Anderson say they're gonna keep working together, possibly as TBP, but it may become something beyond a piano trio. Could be interesting.

Ooh interesting

Bad Plus original lineup reunion for Coachella 2025

I read about the TBP news on Twitter, from Ethan Iverson, who mentioned that he'd never listened to either of the albums they did with Orrin. That kind of surprised me. I don't know why.

Huh, it never occurred to me but I could see it, just too personal.

I do think it makes a lot more sense for TBP to turn into whatever Dave & Reid want to do with whoever, rather than trying to recreate the original dynamic. It does kinda undercut the initial idea of 'the band is the band', but now the band is a bass player and a drummer, so.

New album of piano trio music written by drummer Devin Drobka, who has become one of the main jazz drummers around these parts.

Sounds very composed and spacious, I'm into it:
https://shiftingparadigmrecords.bandcamp.com/album/resorts

Ah, no, that Monder duo video went away now.:(

Think it goes behind a paywall

My latest Stereogum column, in which I go long on Jeremy Pelt's new book of interviews and the need for more black jazz critics, and more artist-to-artist dialogue. I also review some records.

Ooh cool. I've been planning to re-read the Art Taylor book of interviews (which reminds me, I really stalled out on reading that Monk bio).

Burnt Sugar, The Rites ~ Butch Morris Conductions Inspired By Stravinsky's Le Sacre Du Printemps---w Pete Cosey, Melvin Gibbs, Mazz Swift, many more: https://burntsugarthearkestrachamber.bandcamp.com/album/the-rites-butch-morris-conductions-inspired-by-stravinskys-le-sacre-du-printemps

I tend to find one jazz album per year I like enough to buy. This year that would be The Clear Revolution by Cyclone Trio (Massimo Magee, Tony Irving, Tim Green) on 577 RECS . It chaotically lurches with reckless abandon. Play it loud.

http://elsewhere.scdn3.secure.raxcdn.com/images/v95000/articles/cyclone.jpg

http://open.spotify.com/album/6Es2bLAKmLOQU3FCc8l1Au?si=BJMPnsNlT4m2TxOmHVplNA
http://577records.bandcamp.com/album/the-clear-revolution

what's the ilm take on J.D. Beck and DOMi https://www.nytimes.com/interactive/2021/03/10/magazine/jd-beck-domi.html ?

They're great. Especially J.D. Beck, I've been on his drumming videos for a long time now and he's a young genius.

I'm looking forward to them making/appearing on more actual records someday, instead of just being virtuoso Youtube celebs. But maybe that's an old brain way of looking at it.

yeah they're crazy live, and I can def stand what they do more than the louis cole style of younger virtuoso ppl, but idk if there's anything more to them than their chops. I haven't really heard anything they've done that I would want to listen to outside of seeing them play

looking forward to the live koma saxo record https://wejazzrecords.bandcamp.com/album/live

I found that Times story insufferable. Their music was...fine. Teenagers making music for teenagers. Good for them. But very much Not For Me.