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Zorn List Digest      Thursday, January 20 2000      Volume 02 : Number 838



In this issue:
-
       In His Own Sweet Time
       Re: Don Cherry
       Re: Tim Berne - Quicksand
       Masada
       masada t-shirts
       laswell
       Re: Douglas's THOUGHTS ABOUT MAHFOUZ
       Re: Masada
       Re: Masada
       Re: Douglas's THOUGHTS ABOUT MAHFOUZ
       Re: Douglas's THOUGHTS ABOUT MAHFOUZ
       Tom Johnson, "The Chord Catalogue"
       Re: Douglas's Charms
       Re: Tim Berne - Quicksand
       Re: Tom Johnson, "The Chord Catalogue"
       Re: Douglas's THOUGHTS ABOUT MAHFOUZ
       Re:  Re: Douglas's THOUGHTS ABOUT MAHFOUZ
       Ascension (was Re: Douglas's THOUGHTS ABOUT MAHFOUZ)
       Re: Ascension (was Re: Douglas's THOUGHTS ABOUT MAHFOUZ)

----------------------------------------------------------------------

Date: Thu, 20 Jan 2000 12:43:02 -0500
From: [e-mail]
Subject: In His Own Sweet Time

Julian asks:
Aquarius listed the following out on the 24th/25th of January. Does anyone
have any more info on this?

V/A "In His Own Sweet Way: A Tribute To Dave Brubeck" on Avant (w/ Uri
   Caine, Bill Frisell, MM&W, Eyvind Kang, The Ruins, Dave Douglas,
   Anthony Coleman, Joey Baron, Erik Friedlander, David Krakauer, &
   others)

According to Bruce at DMG, this has been delayed until Feb.



- -

------------------------------

Date: Thu, 20 Jan 2000 14:47:54 EST
From: [e-mail]
Subject: Re: Don Cherry

Someone asked about the availability of Don's "Sonet Recordings" on Verve.
I've never seen them in the States, but when I went to Europe last year they
were in just about every store I went into that had a decent jazz selection,
and at a good price too. I'd recommend Ray's Jazz in London, where I bought
mine (provided they do a mail order, which I didn't look into), but if you
are in regular touch with some personal favorite European music source, you
can probably find it there. Hope this helps in some way,
Patrick Brown
[e-mail]

- -

------------------------------

Date: Thu, 20 Jan 2000 16:40:52 -0500 (EST)
From: Ken Waxman <[e-mail]>
Subject: Re: Tim Berne - Quicksand

Craig Taborn was the pianist who worked with Roscoe Mitchell and was also
in James Carter's group. Considering his whole rhythm section seem to have
other gigs and I've rarely heard of Carter playing around recently, what
ever happened to that particular young lion?

Ken Waxman

- -

------------------------------

Date: Thu, 20 Jan 2000 22:51:38 +0100
From: Shlomo Weintraub <[e-mail]>
Subject: Masada

A bIG hello to all the people on the Zorn-list,
A the moment I'm connected to the Napster-server, and I have 10 Masada
bootleg tracks (from 1994 featuring Kenny Wollensen on drums) for your
downloading and listening pleasure! My nick is "tzadikk".
shlomo


- -

------------------------------

Date: Thu, 20 Jan 2000 17:00:33 -0500
From: Jason Tors <[e-mail]>
Subject: masada t-shirts

I was in downtown music gallery yesterday and they have maroon masada
tshirts for sale. Plain with the masada type underneath a rock over
the right breast area.

neat shirt but I dont think I would wear one.

- -

------------------------------

Date: Thu, 20 Jan 2000 17:12:40 EST
From: [e-mail]
Subject: laswell

<< >>that it's complete bullshit, very much like the last dozen or so albums
 >>laswell has released. lame, uninspired, & poorly played.
 >
 >
 >If you feel that way, quit buying after three or four rather than buying a
 >"dozen or so".  There's no point sacrificing so much money on artists you
 >don't like...
 >
 who says i bought them? come on, now. don't lecture me. >>

yeah, word up. i can't say my reaction to my first laswell purchase,
invisible design, was entirely different.

joseph

- -

------------------------------

Date: Thu, 20 Jan 2000 17:25:58 EST
From: [e-mail]
Subject: Re: Douglas's THOUGHTS ABOUT MAHFOUZ

Is 'Thoughts about Mahfouz' Douglas' "Indian" band?  I read that Myra Melford
plays harmonium in this one, as well as some other Indian musicians, who's
names I can't remember.  Are there any recordings available by this
particular ensemble?  Has anyone heard them play?  Please share.

Thanks,
Evan

- -

------------------------------

Date: Thu, 20 Jan 2000 18:03:56 EST
From: =?ISO-8859-1?Q?"Mathieu_B=E9langer"?= <[e-mail]>
Subject: Re: Masada

Hello,

>A the moment I'm connected to the Napster-server, and I have 10 Masada
>bootleg tracks (from 1994 featuring Kenny Wollensen on drums) for your
>downloading and listening pleasure!

Would it be possible to put these on a server? A http / ftp or even a
hotline server is much more convenient and accessible. With all the
mp3s that were posted to alt.binaries.sounds.mp3.bootlegs and from the
various files people on this list have, it would be possible to create
a nice archive of Zorn-related concerts (I am not talking of released
material, but concerts).

Anybody interested? (if not, sorry for this message)

Mathieu

- -

------------------------------

Date: Thu, 20 Jan 2000 18:24:58 -0500
From: "H." <[e-mail]>
Subject: Re: Masada

I plan on adding some more Zorn content to:
24.114.177.71 port 1715
login = senatorz
pass = warez

uploads are welcome :)

out
  H


>Hello,
>
>>A the moment I'm connected to the Napster-server, and I have 10 Masada
>>bootleg tracks (from 1994 featuring Kenny Wollensen on drums) for your
>>downloading and listening pleasure!
>
>Would it be possible to put these on a server? A http / ftp or even a
>hotline server is much more convenient and accessible. With all the
>mp3s that were posted to alt.binaries.sounds.mp3.bootlegs and from the
>various files people on this list have, it would be possible to create
>a nice archive of Zorn-related concerts (I am not talking of released
>material, but concerts).
>
>Anybody interested? (if not, sorry for this message)
>
>Mathieu
>
>-
>


- -

------------------------------

Date: Thu, 20 Jan 2000 20:11:38 -0500
From: Steve Smith <[e-mail]>
Subject: Re: Douglas's THOUGHTS ABOUT MAHFOUZ

[e-mail] wrote:

> Is 'Thoughts about Mahfouz' Douglas' "Indian" band?

No, the Indian band is called Satya.  The Mahfouz project included Ikue Mori,
Jamie Saft and Kenny Wollesen.  It was a highly electronic project, with Dave
playing tapes and CDs more than trumpet, and what trumpet he played was
frequently altered with effects.

>  I read that Myra Melford
> plays harmonium in this one, as well as some other Indian musicians, who's
> names I can't remember.

Samir Chatterjee is usually the tabla player, although originally I think it was
Badal Roy.  There's one further member but I don't recall his/her name - a
tambura player, perhaps?

>  Are there any recordings available by this
> particular ensemble?

No.

>  Has anyone heard them play?

I wish...

Incidentally, Dave will soon have a comprehensive website posted at
www.davedouglas.com - I'll send word when that happens.

Steve Smith
[e-mail]
NP - nada


- -

------------------------------

Date: Thu, 20 Jan 2000 20:24:47 -0500
From: Brian Olewnick <[e-mail]>
Subject: Re: Douglas's THOUGHTS ABOUT MAHFOUZ

> >  Has anyone heard them play?

The Douglas/Melford/Badal Roy trio played at the NYC Bacharach tribute
about two years ago, as part of a larger program. If memory serves (and
it may well not), they did 'Walk On By'. Whatever, I enjoyed their
performance quite a bit and would love to hear more.

Brian Olewnick

NP: Scott Walker, 'Tilt' (It was a gift! But I actually kind of like
it...)

- -

------------------------------

Date: Thu, 20 Jan 2000 20:36:47 -0500
From: Brian Olewnick <[e-mail]>
Subject: Tom Johnson, "The Chord Catalogue"

The first time I played this, I took it off half-way through, it was
getting on my nerves that much. I can't recall the last time I did that,
if ever.

The piece is subtitled "all the 8178 chords possible in one octave", and
Mr. Johnson, he ain't kidding. The tracks range from "the 78 two-note
chords" through "the 1716 seven-note chords", culminating with "the 1
thirteen-note chord". I say culminate, but Johnson, not surprisingly to
anyone who knows his work, doesn't compose with dramatic intention but,
more simply, constructs lists. He plays the chords in subtly rising
eighth notes, never varying emphasis or tempo. Johnson stresses in his
liner notes that he considers the whole affair a "discovery" rather than
a composition, at one point making the intriguing self-observation, "I
am not interested in autobiography".

In any case, I played it again this evening, with some misgivings and
found myself _beginning_ to be drawn in. It's still pretty aggravating,
but I _think_ I'm getting an inkling of what he's going on about. Anyone
else stuck their big toes into this particular eddy?

(On XI records)

Brian Olewnick

- -

------------------------------

Date: Thu, 20 Jan 2000 20:56:26 -0500
From: Steve Smith <[e-mail]>
Subject: Re: Douglas's Charms

Scott Handley wrote:

> But wait!  Steve to the rescue with a scathing

Thanks for the timely reminder that I sometimes take this stuff (and myself) a
wee bit too seriously.  Geez, given my defensiveness, one would be led to
believe that perhaps I still have an unresolved personal issue or two regarding
joining the majors...

> My comments indicated, with subtextual
> ;->, that I like Dave, and I like LOTS of Dave.  Nothing more.

Me, too, and sorry to have misread you.  I guess my skin's a bit thin because
I've just returned from nearly a week of a jazz industry (if that's not an
oxymoron...) conference in which major labels were essentially painted again and
again as some kind of cross between Satan and a plantation owner.  Which is not
to say that there's not a grain of truth in that appraisal, at least from a
historical perspective... but the majors, in my estimation and experience, are
also liberally peppered with people who really are in it for the music, present
company included.  And ultimately I believe the primary strength of an
affiliation with a major for those involved in creative (read: noncommercial)
music, whether it be Anthony Braxton in the '70s, Tim Berne for an eyeblink in
the '80s, David S. Ware in the '90s or Dave Douglas in the '00s is that people
will be alerted to the records by mainstream media outlets and advertising and
will then stand a chance of finding the records in their local stores.  Even if
the major label affiliation crashes and burns spectacularly, the long-term
repercussions appear to be valuable over the life of a performer's career.
Perhaps I'm wrong or at least overly idealistic, but that's the philosophy that
keeps me working hard without succumbing to skepticism.

> Oh, and THOUGHTS
> ABOUT MAHFOUZ; what happened to that?  One Roulette concert review, and it
> sounded _great_. This is interesting; I'd like to know more.

For those who weren't here at the time, I posted a review of this Roulette
performance almost two years ago, back in the days before I figured out how to
get paid to talk about Dave all day.  ;-)  The project included Ikue Mori, Jamie
Saft and Kenny Wollesen.  And, apart from a subsequent short run at the Knitting
Factory's Old Office shortly after the Roulette gig, to the best of my knowledge
he's not revisited it.

On the other hand, lately he's been talking about a concept combining aspects
(and members) of the sextet, the string group and the Sanctuary group.  Now THAT
should be worth hearing.

In closing, Scott, sorry to be so reactionary.  I'll try to relocate my sense of
humor - it must be around here somewhere - perhaps hidden under that employment
agreement I oddly enough had to sign in blood last August, just before they
branded that barcode on my ass...

(But seriously, upon reflection earlier today, I realized that the Vanguard
dates in February will *not* be the first time Joey's made a sextet gig - he was
there for the Bell Atlantic Jazz Festival gig last June at the Knit, and damn
near stole the show on occasion, like always.)

Steve Smith
[e-mail]
NP - nada


- -

------------------------------

Date: Thu, 20 Jan 2000 21:39:55 -0500
From: Steve Smith <[e-mail]>
Subject: Re: Tim Berne - Quicksand

Dan Hewins wrote:

> I went to the Knit's Old office last night to check out Tim's new
> group, Quicksand.

Me, too.

> The group is a trio with Tom Rainey on drums and
> Craig Taborn (?) on keyboards.

This was my first time to hear Taborn playing electric keyboards, and he
is a whiz indeed.  I was most reminded of Herbie Hancock's choices of
sounds and styles during his great Mwandishi period, although Craig
played digital synths without the benefit of strange arcana like ring
modulators and mellotrons and such.

> The keys were varied: from
> a Rhodes sound to ethereal, reverberated sounds to pops and clicks.

Not to mention some intensely distorted Fender Rhodes-like sounds
recurring throughout the evening.  And once in a while Taborn would let
loose a digital sample that would kind of wander around in the back of a
composition - a sort of almost-controlled element of chaos behind more
rigorously composed lines.  That was a novel touch.

> It was somewhat of a
> suite with characteristic Berne composed parts interspersed with
> solo, duo, and trio improvisation.

Agreed - again and again I was struck by how completely distinctive Tim's
compositional style is.  There's no chance that anybody could not have
identified the composer in a blindfold test.  The compositions were not
unlike the bloodcount repertoire, but Taborn's synthesizers always added
fresh sounds.  And Tom Rainey's drumming is in general much less
groove-oriented than Jim Black's, for the most part.  One minute Rainey
would sound like a one-man New Orleans second line, the next like Rashied
Ali, and one moment later like no one else.  It's no wonder that Tim
finds him invigorating.

> I noticed Tom Rainey lock in with Tim or Craig a
> few times, which drew a smile to his otherwise stoic and concentrated
> face...and mine.

This evening I was once again reminded that Tom is one of the most
innovative and original drummers out there, bar none.  He's often
overlooked, but one of his trademarks is that he never lets a band coast
- - everyone has to *work*.  He's always busy and challenging, stubbornly
refusing to let anyone slide.  Tom pushes, listens, argues and cajoles,
but he's also extremely supportive, able to lay down a groove or a subtle
swing at the drop of a hat.

> I overheard Tim
> say, "it was a blast" and Craig say, "rehearsal can't prepare one for
> this..."

After the gig Tim's wife was telling Craig how excellent the performance
had been, and Craig's response was "Thanks, I wasn't sure - it's
impossible to tell what's going on up there."  He needn't have worried.
I found him to be remarkably free of cliche.  At times he played lines
together with Tim, while at others he played counterpoint to Tim's
lines.  Sometimes he supplied a bass part, while at other times it was
strictly melodic.  At one point he was using his volume pedal to attack
his lines in exactly the same way that Marc Ducret might have played them
on guitar.

> All in all it reminded me why I wanted to move to New
> York...

Me, too.

> Tonight is the debut of another new band at Tonic, Tim's Afternoon
> Tea Band with Tony Malaby (sax), Eric Friedlander (cello), and Tom
> Rainey.  Should be good.

Tim's no(h)bag group from last year, with Friedlander in place of
Formanek.  Please tell us about it, especially if there's new material -
no(h)bag played mostly bloodcount repertoire, albeit in distinctive
style, and "Bass Voodoo."  This was a particularly enticing double bill
with the Ben Perowsky Trio (Chris Speed, Scott Colley) but alas, even if
you live here you can't attend everything...

Steve Smith
[e-mail]
NP - nada


- -

------------------------------

Date: Thu, 20 Jan 2000 20:54:51 -0500
From: "Caleb T. Deupree" <[e-mail]>
Subject: Re: Tom Johnson, "The Chord Catalogue"

At 08:36 PM 1/20/00 -0500, Brian Olewnick wrote:
>The first time I played this, I took it off half-way through, it was
>getting on my nerves that much. I can't recall the last time I did that,
>if ever.

The Berio Sequenza for viola on the otherwise magnificant recent set of all
of them on DGG.

>In any case, I played it again this evening, with some misgivings and
>found myself _beginning_ to be drawn in. It's still pretty aggravating,
>but I _think_ I'm getting an inkling of what he's going on about. Anyone
>else stuck their big toes into this particular eddy?

I don't know this one, but he had a piece on Lovely entitled An Hour for
Piano (or something like that), which was sort of classic minimalism, with
very little variation in volume and lots of fairly quick repeating patterns.

On the more general issue of aggravating music, I've found that although I
try to be open minded about new releases, there are times when the gap
between what I expect and what I hear is immense.  The albums tend to sit
on the shelf until I can come back when the gap diminishes.  That may
happen with the Berio, but it's also happened with artists like Arto and
Hector Zazou, who often change directions radically from release to release.

- --
Caleb Deupree
[e-mail]

It is pretty obvious that the debasement of the human mind caused by a
constant flow of fraudulent advertising is no trivial thing.  There is more
than one way to conquer a country.

- -- Raymond Chandler

- -

------------------------------

Date: Thu, 20 Jan 2000 22:28:58 -0500
From: Otis Wheeler <[e-mail]>
Subject: Re: Douglas's THOUGHTS ABOUT MAHFOUZ

>NP: Scott Walker, 'Tilt' (It was a gift! But I actually kind of like
>it...)

Why wouldn't you? It's the greatest album ever recorded (with the
possible but unlikely exceptions of Dusty Springfield's Dusty In
Memphis, Ayler's Live In Greenwich Village, and Ascension's Five
Titles).

Otie

np: Nurse With Wound/Aranos: Acts of Senseless Beauty


- -

------------------------------

Date: Thu, 20 Jan 2000 22:31:05 EST
From: [e-mail]
Subject: Re:  Re: Douglas's THOUGHTS ABOUT MAHFOUZ

Um, I thought FEAR OF A BLACK PLANET was the greatest album ever recorded.
That or the Tilson-Thomas recording of the Ives 4th Symphony fr 1991

skip h

- -

------------------------------

Date: Thu, 20 Jan 2000 22:38:46 EST
From: [e-mail]
Subject: Ascension (was Re: Douglas's THOUGHTS ABOUT MAHFOUZ)

In a message dated 1/20/00 10:29:31 PM, [e-mail] writes:

<< >NP: Scott Walker, 'Tilt' (It was a gift! But I actually kind of like
>it...)

Why wouldn't you? It's the greatest album ever recorded (with the
possible but unlikely exceptions of Dusty Springfield's Dusty In
Memphis, Ayler's Live In Greenwich Village, and Ascension's Five
Titles). >>

now, that's a varied set of choices. personally, I much prefer Ascension's
Broadcast to Five Titles. same duo (Stefan Jaworzyn-guitar and Tony
Irving-drums), two years later, two live radio sets, much more focus to my
ears.

Jon
www.erstwhilerecords.com

- -

------------------------------

Date: Thu, 20 Jan 2000 22:59:52 -0500
From: Otis Wheeler <[e-mail]>
Subject: Re: Ascension (was Re: Douglas's THOUGHTS ABOUT MAHFOUZ)

>In a message dated 1/20/00 10:29:31 PM, [e-mail] writes:
>
><< >NP: Scott Walker, 'Tilt' (It was a gift! But I actually kind of like
> >it...)
>
>Why wouldn't you? It's the greatest album ever recorded (with the
>possible but unlikely exceptions of Dusty Springfield's Dusty In
>Memphis, Ayler's Live In Greenwich Village, and Ascension's Five
>Titles). >>
>
>now, that's a varied set of choices. personally, I much prefer Ascension's
>Broadcast to Five Titles. same duo (Stefan Jaworzyn-guitar and Tony
>Irving-drums), two years later, two live radio sets, much more focus to my
>ears.

(drooling) Is this still available? What label, etc.? I've never even
heard of it. I heard some bootleg a year or two ago, but other than
that, Five Titles is the only Ascension I've been able to wrap my
ears around. God knows I need more like the world needs the Dead C.
to land on TV more often.

Otis

np: Michel Chion: Requiem


- -

------------------------------

End of Zorn List Digest V2 #838
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