> I've heard quite a number of good things about european free jazz, and
> i would appreciate it if someone could push me in the right direction.
> Evan Parker, Peter brotzmann, derek bailey, etc. seem to be names that come
> up often. Paul Rutherford's "the gentle harm of the bourgeoisie" is also
> supposedly very good.
> any help would be appreciated.
>
> ben
>
If you don't have the Penguin Guide to Jazz on Compact Disc (by Cook and
Morton), I highly recommend it for use as a guide to the European improvisers,
as well a handy starting place for prolific artists' discographies, and it's
just a darn good read, too. Unlike most reviews, the Penguin Guide actually
gives me a good idea of how something might sound. I think the fourth edition
is the most recent. (Stan Getz on the cover.)
William Crump
- -
------------------------------
Date: Fri, 09 Jun 2000 13:55:36 -0400
From: Matt Laferty <bg60009@binghamton.edu>
Subject: Re: freejazz
Ben
I would wholeheartedly recommend almost anything on the German label FMP.
That includes Brotzmann, lots of Cecil Taylor from 1988 and later, Evan
Parker, Han Bennink, and others.
I love Brotzmann's "Machine Gun" and "Live in Berlin 1971" as well as a
couple of others. Taylor's duets with different drummers on that label are
also pretty impressive.
There is also a bunch of legal mp3s on the European Improvisors Website
that would provide good intros to Bailey, et al...
Matt
At 01:01 PM 6/9/00 EDT, ObviousEye@aol.com wrote:
>I've heard quite a number of good things about european free jazz, and
>i would appreciate it if someone could push me in the right direction.
>Evan Parker, Peter brotzmann, derek bailey, etc. seem to be names that come
>up often. Paul Rutherford's "the gentle harm of the bourgeoisie" is also
>supposedly very good.
>any help would be appreciated.
>
>ben
>
>-
>
>
- ---
Matt Laferty
Department of English, General Literature, & Rhetoric
Binghamton University
PO Box 6000
Binghamton, NY 13902
607.777.2754
bg60009@binghamton.edu
- -
------------------------------
Date: Fri, 9 Jun 2000 13:58:48 -0400
From: Glenn_Lea@avid.com
Subject: Re: Indian music (no zorn content)
Matt Laferty asked:
>I was thinking about buying the recent cd box set "The Raga Guide" and am
>wondering if any listers have any exposure to it.
>I am concerned that four discs of the same artists playing short ragas
>without the usual extented performances would be boring. I'm a fan of
>indian raga, but don't know my tala from my alapa, so I'm interested in the
>book. But how is the listening for a semi-experienced Indian classical
>listener?
I'm not sure where I fit on the Indian classical scale, probably left of
semi-experienced. But I recommend the set highly. The book is nearly 200
pages, with a full page of VERY detailed notes on every track: scale in western
notation and Indian notation, lyrics if any, history of the raga, when it should
be performed, etc. More than you would ever need to know.
There _is_ some variety, even though there are only a few performers, since they
don't all perform together: there will be a flute track, then a male vocal
track, maybe another flute, then a female vocal, etc. All of the tracks do have
a predicable "pattern": statement of the scale, then variations on it. As a
semi-semi-experienced listener, I find it easier to get my head around these
pieces than the 30+ minute ones that one usually hears. My only complaint is
that the ragas are presented in strict alphabetical order (there are 84 in all).
I would have preferred them to be arranged by recommended listening time or
something. But that's a quibble.
Glenn Lea
- -
------------------------------
Date: 9 Jun 2000 11:26:20 -0700
From: Dan Given <dlgiven@altavista.com>
Subject: Re: free jazz
> Matt Wirzbicki wrote:t
> I'd also recommend checking out the music of AMM. I'm not sure what you're
> looking for but I'd highly recommend their album "Before driving to the
> chapel we took coffee with Rick and Jennifer Reed" (Matchless Records).
AMM is pretty far from 'free jazz', but definitely is worth checking out for anyone interested in improvised music. I wouldn't, however, recomment "Before driving..." as the first place to start. It is an OK album, but compared to some of the others in the catalogue, it doesn't hold up.
There are two ways I would recommend going at AMM: 1) get one of the late 80s/early 90s discs, such as Nameless Uncarved Block, Newfoundland, or Allentown. This might be the best era for starting out with, as all contain really great music, and it may actually be a bit more 'accessible' than the earlier work to a listener who doesn't know what they are in for.
2) start early. Personally, I started in the middle (Nameless...), and am now disappointed I did this, because it by the time I heard AMMusic and The Crypt I was already aware of where the journey they were on was headed. The earlier stuff is much more noisy, and it would have been interesting to hear the way they developed into the more refined music of the newer recordings. So, my recommendation would probably be The Crypt as a great start (though AMMusic is earlier, I won't recommend it because I have only heard it a couple of times, but remember it as being worth getting).
