Listenings of Late

Well - here's what's been on of late.....

Miles Davis: "Live in Tokyo" (CBS)
This disc led me to listening to a bunch of Sam Rivers last week.

Sam Rivers:
"Vista" (Meta) A nice trio of Adam Rudolph (percussion), Harris Eisensadt (drums) and Rivers on Tenor/Soprano sax/Flute/. He didn't slow down in his later years - recorded in 2003 just before his 80th birthday.
"Crystals" (Impulse). I was familiar with the 2 big band discs from the 1990's on RCA but this one was new to me. A very distinctive big band writer.
"Waves" (Tomato)
"Hues" (Impulse)
"Streams" (Impulse)
Sam Rivers output from the 70's has managed to evade my ears until I had bit of a binge this week. Feel-wheeling, powerful blowing with plenty of continuity.

Cecil Taylor:
"Jazz Advance" (Transition) A bold debut with the added bonus of some early Steve Lacy.
"Nefertiti, The Beautiful One Has Come" (Revenant Records) A live recording of an early incarnation of the Cecil Taylor Unit.
"Unit Structures" & "Conquistador" (Blue Note) Two classics on Blue Note (I tend to favor the latter). I enjoy the contrasts in this group - the bass playing of Silva & Grimes....Taylor's density & Lyons roots in Bird.
"For Olim" (Soul Note) Recommended if you are wondering where to start with Taylor's solo work.

There has been plenty of Ornette Coleman related albums on too.
Ornette Coleman:
"Something Else!" (Contemporary) I hadn't listened to this one in ages. I remember one of my friends being into this album (Hi Brad!)  and playing 'The Blessing' back in our days at what is now the NZSM.
"The Shape of Jazz to Come" (Atlantic)
"Live at the Golden Circle Vol.1" (Blue Note)
"Free Jazz" (Atlantic) Other disc I hadn't listened to in quite some time. Enjoyed much more this time round.

Old & New Dreams: "Old & New Dreams" (Black Saint) For those of you that enjoy Ornette Coleman's work on Atlantic this group (of Coleman Alumni) makes an excellent follow up.

Keith Jarrett: "Fort Yawh" (Impulse) Jarrett's 'American Quartet' - a group I haven't listened to that much.

Don Cherry: "Complete Communion" (Blue Note) A nice place to start with Cherry's work after the Coleman Quartet. Two, four movement suites with nice playing all round - particularly the rhythm section of Ed Blackwell & Henry Grimes.

John Coltrane & Don Cherry: "The Avant-Garde" (Atlantic) I feel this album is pretty up & down and can see why it wasn't initially released by Atlantic - must have sounded quite tame compared to what Coltrane was playing when it was released in 1966 ( the year "Ascension" & "Meditations" were released). Coltrane's earliest studio date on soprano.

Free Jazz Project

I'm currently working on a project to send back home to John & the rest of the 'Friends of Jazz' gang - a jazz appreciation group on the Kapiti Coast.

The plan is to write a series of emails under the subject heading "Free Jazz: An Introduction" with the hopes to open the ears to some new sounds.
Making brief notes on key artists and recordings is leading to an ever expanding list as I think of things along the way.

Lots and lots of listening to get to in the coming weeks. Lately there's been plenty of Ornette Coleman, Cecil Taylor, and Sam Rivers resonating throughout the apartment.

Tonight I'm off to hear Ken Vandermark's "The Midwest School" at the Green Mill.