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Date: Wed, 02 May 2001 15:53:02 EDT
From: DvdBelkin@aol.com
Subject: Re: AMM & B-MANN
Apparently the qualifier that I took care to add to my post - that I was not making a blanket statement about *all* of Brotzmann's playing - was a waste, since it was snipped out and ignored in the response. But probably I did not say emphatically enough that I wasn't generalizing.
I was just referring to my own experience of Brotzmann the few times I've seen him play live, some years ago at the Knit in fact (I think once was with Crispell). It came to mind as I was listening to AMM there because the contrasts were so obvious: unparalleled sonic reticence vs. uninterrupted ear-splitting volume (courtesy also of what I felt to be totally excessive amplification - well beyond the needs of the space and the capacity of the Knit's system to deliver undistorted sound), and extraordinary listening and interplay among the musicians versus - well, when I saw B-mann with Crispell, I didn't get any sense that he was playing *with* her at all (and I don't think she did either), as he just barreled along doing his uber-ferocity thing. (I think one of the other times I saw him may have been with Borah Bergman - could that be right? - and there I thought that at least the energy levels and intents of the players were better-matched.)
It's not that I never like his "thing." That old bass sax record of his (was it "Low Life"?) gave me a stone blast when I picked it up - which fortuitously was right around the time I read Skvorecki's novelette - and is still a valued part of my collection. But when I heard him live (this was several years later, and after my Brotzmann collection had grown), it was just like, "OK, got it, you said that before. A bunch. What are you saying by reaming it into my ears again NOW?"
But you're absolutely right, I shouldn't single Brotzmann out, especially on the basis of a few performances. The first time AMM came up for discussion here since I joined the list was after Barry Guy's gig at Tonic (with that Crispell woman again!); AMM was the cannon that Brian aimed at Guy & co. while complaining that the latter fell at times into free improv cliches and conventions. I myself thought that the Guy set was splendid - but for me "blow-til-I'm deaf" *can* - like anything else - get pretty old sometimes. I repeat, sometimes.
But that's just me. I'd be curious to know, though, if anyone else ever feels that our creative "out" or "free" (or whatever) gods - not specifically Brotzmann, OK? NOT Brotzmann - sometimes end up playing, in effect, quite conservatively (or Conservator-il-y) when they're taking us to the (same old?) Dionysian limits...
David
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Date: Wed, 2 May 2001 13:02:02 -0700 (PDT)
From: David Royko <davidroyko@yahoo.com>
Subject: I thought Masada was ending...
...but I'm not going to complain. I just noticed that
Masada will be performing here in Chicago in April
2002 as part of the jazz series at Symphony Center
(fka Orchestra Hall). Tickets won't be going on sale
until this fall (unless you want to buy the whole
series).
Dave Royko
=====
Dave Royko's Self-Promotion Department:
My book, "Voices of Children of Divorce,"
is in paperback at Amazon.com (and elsewhere):
http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/ASIN/0312254695
Fun Department: Interested in trading live jazz
or bluegrass-related CD-Rs? Click here: http://www.geocities.com/davidroyko/mypage.html
