>> LEGACY DEBUTS VINTAGE KLEZMER SERIES FROM AMERICA'S GREATEST ARCHIVE OF
> UNTAPPED
>> YIDDISH MUSIC, COLUMBIA RECORDS
>>
>> DAVE TARRAS - "Tanz!"
>> * "Tanz!," recorded by the legendary klezmer clarinetist Dave Tarras in
> 1956,
>> was this music's last great hurrah before the klezmer revival began in the
>> 1970s. A rare, out-of-print collectors' LP now digitally restored with bonus
>> material from the original sessions.
This is one of the hoped for anticipated reissues. Tarras and Musiker may
not have been Miles and Gil, but this is still an amazing record.
skip heller
http://www.skipheller.com
- -
------------------------------
Date: Fri, 11 Jan 2002 23:06:13 -0500
From: David Keffer <keffer@planetc.com>
Subject: George Lewis Reissues
I know there are some George Lewis fans on the Zorn-list and I recently
picked up a couple reissues and thought I would give a couple comments on
them. First off, while these are reissues, I had never heard them in the
original so they seemed new to me.
The Solo Trombone Record
George Lewis
Sackville 3012
Recorded November 21, 1976 Toronto
Sackville is releasing a lot of their "Creative Improvised Music Classics"
on the cd format for the first time (in editions of 1000). This record I
had always eyed covetously on the George Lewis discography. I had always
imagined that this early Lewis solo album would really have something
really special to it. In fact I imagined it as George Lewis's equivalent
of Peter Brotzmann's "Nothing to Say: A Suite of Breathless Motion"
(FMP), a kind of pure and solo statement that captures the essentials of
his playing. Perhaps another equivalent is Evan Parker's "Saxophone Solos"
(Incus). Well, now that I have heard it, "The Solo Trombone Record" leaves
nothing to be desired. It is really pure genius, George Lewis as good as
you can hear him. Better than "Voyager", different than "News for Lulu" or
"Homage to Charlie Parker", but pure Lewis, and as good as those very good
records in its own way. If like me, you weren't into George Lewis in 1976,
then you probably missed the original release of this lp. Just passing on
the news while the reissue lasts, as I hadn't seen a discussion of it on
the list yet.
Anthony Braxton (w/ George Lewis, Dave Holland, Barry Altschul)
Dortmund 1976
Hatology 557
Recorded October 31, 1976 Dortmund
21 days before recording "The Solo Trombone Record", George Lewis was
playing in the Braxton Quartet. I have heard Braxton in a variety of
contexts, including Jazz oriented major label releases and completely free
improv duets on Incus, but this one with George Lewis and a rhythm section
is the best. Sometimes jazzy, sometimes free. Or, always jazzy, always
free. Sometimes mathy (I think that term describes some of Braxton's
compositions). Anyway, the blurb I read about it credited George Lewis'
presence with adding an additional degree of excitement to the music.
Well, when you listen to the cd, you can hear the excitement and the
playfulness. Altogether very fine.
David K.
p.s. The Sackville reissues are available through Cadence. Don't know where
else.
- -
------------------------------
Date: 11 Jan 2002 21:04:20 -0800
From: Dan Given <dlgiven@altavista.com>
Subject: Re: Favourite Erstwhile Releases
> From: JonAbbey2@aol.com
> I'm looking forward to seeing more Erst fave lists, I know there's some more
> completists out there...
I guess I'm close to one of the completists, as soon as I get around to the two most recent ones so...
My favorite so far is Schnee. Simply beautiful, one of my favourite recordings of all time. Suitable for close listening or as background for reading.
Others that top my list are, in sort of order, World Turned Upside Down, La Voyelle Liquide, Tom and Gerry, Bits Bots and Signs, Aluminum, and Particles and Smears.
You may notice that this list is mostly (and most of) the 2001 releases. All but Tom and Gerry were 2000, I think, and of the 2000 releases just Bart and Requests and Antisongs isn't on the list. Bart isn't there because, as someone else already commented, I find it a bit too intense. Requests and Antisongs isn't there because a) I prefer Butcher non-processed, and b) that would have made my list too long!
As for the 2001 releases, I guess my favourite is Stullyps (whatever--it is in a different room)/TV Pow. The rest of them just didn't really grab me as much as some other things I heard this year. And I have to admit that, at this point, I don't get Toshimaru Nakamura. I find what he does intriguing, and I'm glad that Jon is putting this stuff out because I do believe there is great artistic value in what what Nakamura does, but it isn't for me. My copy of Do is filed and may never come off the shelf, my copy of Weather Sky is at a friend's house, and I have told him there is no hurry returning it.
As an aside, I did devote about an hour of a radio program to these two recordings, and got four phone calls (more than I've ever gotten about anything I've played in about 6 years of radio). The result: one positive (will buy), one semi-positive (found it interesting, but not enough to buy), the other two very negative (probably turned off their radios after failing to convince me to take it off.)
Anyway, keep up the good work Jon.
Dan
Find the best deals on the web at AltaVista Shopping!
http://www.shopping.altavista.com
- -
------------------------------
Date: Sat, 12 Jan 2002 06:17:10
From: "William York" <william_york@hotmail.com>
Subject: re: free jazz w/ non standard insts.
>into freejazz, but more specifically, free jazz that integrates other
>things (ie: not "pure" instrumental free jazz, but the hoots of >milford
>graves, and some of the weird distortion/filtering that i >heard in some
>ascension release, and other things..) i've really been >enjoying your
>posts and recommendations. are there any releases that >jump out in your
>mind?
have you heard the william hooker/glenn spearman/dj olive cd on knitting
factory? it's drums/tenor sax/turntables. considering how good the playing
is, this could have just been hooker and spearman and i would still really,
really like it (esp. with these great performances), but the turntables add
a nice dimension and are well-intergrated -- no cheeky, "clever" stuff,
either, thankfully.
a lot of people are also big on peter brotzmann's die like a dog quartet
(most albums have toshinori kondo on effects-processed trumpet). for some
reason, i have not gotten into this stuff as much as some other brotzmann
releases.
also, i like the ellery eskelin/andrea parkins cd, 'green bermudas', that
skip h. mentioned. it is less expressionistic, i guess, than the above
albums, but more bizarre. tenor saxophone and accordion/sampling keyboard --
the samples are often really long, and include portions of some of the weird
"song poems" of eskelin's dad, rodd keith (cd on tzadik), although these
samples are heavily mutated. the last track is possibly the most screwed-up
father/son "duets" ever! (yet it is still somehow very moving.)
>i also really liked griffin/burns/dionyso/crews "creation music" >release
