Listening: Early May

Evan Parker - Chicago Solo

Evan Parker: Chicago Solo (Okka Disc 1995)
Parker's first solo disc devoted to the tenor saxophone (20 years after his first album of soprano solos). Glad I picked this disc up. 14 solos ranging from less than two - eight minutes in length. I gave this a couple of listens last week - Initial thoughts... quite different from his solo soprano tracks (even if only in the shortness of tracks). Some of it quite intimate sounding. Plenty of similarities too.... 'illusions of polyphony' a plenty. I have kept it out for more listening.

Kaum Quartet: At St. Audeon's Church (Plush 2008)
Fantastic alto saxophone quartet with Sean Mac Erlaine, Hayden Chisholm, Frank Gratkowski & Christian Weidner. I have been enjoying a few alto only groups of late - a post is in its infancy..stay tuned (or should that be detuned?).

Various Billie Holiday (Columbia box set) & Lester Young (30's-early 40's).
All Of Me, A Sailboat In The Moonlight, Sun Showers, You Go To My Head, Shoe Shine Boy, Pound Cake, Laughing At Life, Me Myself & I, Texas Shuffle, etc etc.

Billie & Pres could pretty much be a default entry for the listening lists!  In the not so distant future they will be the subject for an 'Impact Records' entry.

John Coltrane was revisited. A few select tracks ... "One Down, One Up", "Brazilia" and some others plus these albums:
Live At The Village Vanguard (1961) I listened to this quite a bit when I started getting into Eric Dolphy during my music school days.
Expressions (1967)
Ascension (1965) I first heard this shortly after hearing Ornette's "Free Jazz" and thinking... 'damm' - I had no idea what to expect.
Interstellar Space (1967....released 1974)
One of the things I am enjoying about the 'Friends of Jazz Free Jazz Project' is that I am revisiting a lot of music I haven't listened to in quite a while - as was the case with the 4 discs above..... I hadn't listened to them in years.

The next email will be #5 - subjects so far have included Lennie Tristano, Cecil Taylor, Charles Mingus, Ornette Coleman. Coltrane is up next.

Albert Ayler: Spiritual Unity (ESP 1965) also got a revisit as part of the project. I also re-watched the Swedish film "My Name is Albert Ayler." Recommended. Though I wouldn't mind hearing what the Swedes were saying.....I watched it online without subtitles.

Djivan Gasparyan: Heavenly Duduk (Network 1999)
An excellent release from all the free jazz :-)

The List

There are times that see me attending lots of live performances (notably my stays in NYC during 2004 & 2009 when I went out most nights) and other times that I seem to buy lots of albums. The last few months I have been in the latter mode.

Since moving here at the end of September with album buying is at a higher than average rate for me... Aided by online sales at Leo Records and Cadence with 10 disc minimums.

My friend Mike once said "I never make a list." At that time he seemed to buy more cds than anyone I knew. I tend to keep a list but rarely do I stick to it 100%. The recent sales at mentioned above gave me reason to pick up a few discs I would otherwise pass by in favor of something on the list. Not that they aren't list-worthy - just more opportunistic purchases on my part.

The list can be specific (a particular album) or vague (any solo sax album)

The List as it currently stands....
Tranceformation: In Concert
Alexis Parsons & Connie Crothers: Hippin’ - these two fall in the anything by Connie Crothers category
Sean Mac Erlaine: Long After The Music Is Gone
Kazzrie Jaxen Quartet: Callicoon Sessions (I don’t think this has been released yet)
Frank Gratkowski: Fo[u]r Alto
Ted Brown & Brad Linde: Two of a Kind
Ted Brown & Kirk Knuffke: Pound Cake
Solo saxophone recordings - a particular area of interest - I still haven't got Braxton's "For Alto"... that must be near the top of the list.
Schoenberg: piano works