Monday, March 20, 2017

Music Week

Music: Current count 27921 [27888] rated (+33), 403 [389] unrated (+14).

More old music than new this week. For one thing, I've been playing CDs from the travel case when I get up in the afternoon instead of things I'd have to work on. Rated count still seems robust as I spent the late nights picking off old Ken Vandermark records I had missed (my rated list here, although this doesn't pick up things where his name wasn't listed first -- a quick count shows 35 of those, including a couple of groups I catalog separately; my chart shows 11 more records I haven't gotten to, including several multi-disc sets). And over the weekend I started listening to the late Chuck Berry's old albums. I must have heard some Berry singles during his heyday, but never owned any of his records until I got to St. Louis and picked up Chuck Berry's Golden Decade (released 1967) and followed up with Vol. 2 (1973) -- though I don't recall Vol. 3 (1974). So I've always known him through compilations, especially the canon-defining The Great Twenty-Eight (1982), and the even better The Definitive Collection (2006), but also the 3-CD Chess Box (1988), which shows the pickings thin out past one disc, but don't disappear entirely.

I mentioned three deaths up top in yesterday's Weekend Roundup post: Chuck Berry, Jimmy Breslin, and James Hull. One more troubling still is pending: Mary McDonough Harren, reportedly in the final stage of her terminal cancer. She is the grande dame of the Wichita peace movement, a founder of the Peace and Social Justice Center of South Central Kansas, and a dear friend over the last 15 years. Her passing will leave an unfathomable hole in our lives.

A couple links that popped up on Chuck Berry:

New records rated this week:

  • Jason Anick & Jason Yeager: United (2016 [2017], Inner Circle Music): [cd]: B+(**)
  • Bat for Lashes: The Bride (2016, Parlophone): [r]: B-
  • Alex Cline's Flower Garland Orchestra: Oceans of Vows (2016 [2017], self-released, 2CD): [cdr]: B+(***)
  • Akua Dixon: Akua's Dance (2016 [2017], Akua's Music): [cd]: B+(**)
  • Jill Jack and the American SongBook Band: Pure Imagination (2016, UpHill Productions): [cd]: B+(*)
  • Kirk MacDonald Jazz Orchestra: Common Ground (2015 [2017, Addo, 2CD): [cd]: B
  • Ben Markley Big Band: Clockwise: The Music of Cedar Walton (2016 [2017], OA2): [cd]: B+(*)
  • Nate Wooley/Ken Vandermark: All Directions Home (2015, Audiographic): [bc]: B+(***)

Old music rated this week:

  • Chuck Berry: After School Session (1955-57 [1957], Chess): [r]: B+(***)
  • Chuck Berry: One Dozen Berrys (1957 [1958], Chess): [r]: B+(***)
  • Chuck Berry: Chuck Berry Is on Top (1955-59 [1959], Chess): [r]: A-
  • Chuck Berry: Rockin' at the Hops (1960, Chess): [r]: B+(**)
  • Chuck Berry: New Juke Box Hits (1961, Chess): [r]: B+(*)
  • Chuck Berry: Twist (1955-61 [1962], Chess): [r]: A-
  • Chuck Berry: On Stage (1963, Chess): [r]: B-
  • Chuck Berry: St. Louis to Liverpool (1957-64 [2004], Chess): A-
  • Chuck Berry: Chuck Berry in London (1965, Chess): [r]: B+(***)
  • Chuck Berry: Fresh Berry's (1965, Chess): [r]: B+(**)
  • Chuck Berry: Chuck Berry in Memphis (1967, Mercury): [r]: B+(*)
  • Chuck Berry: Live at Fillmore Auditorium (1967, Mercury): [r]: B
  • Bob Brookmeyer: The Dual Role of Bob Brookmeyer (1954-55 [1990], Prestige/OJC): [r]: B+(**)
  • Cinghiale [Mars Williams and Ken Vandermark]: Hoofbeats of the Snorting Swine (1995-96 [1996], Eighth Day Music): [bc]: B+(***)
  • Bo Diddley/Chuck Berry: Two Great Guitars (1964, Chess): [r]: B+(*)
  • Vic Juris: Songbook (1999 [2000], SteepleChase): [r]: B
  • Barney Kessel With Shelly Manne and Ray Brown: The Poll Winners (1957 [1988], Contemporary/OJC): [r]: B+(*)
  • Barney Kessel With Shelly Manne & Ray Brown: Poll Winners Three! (1959 [1992], Contemporary/OJC): [r]: B+(***)
  • Rara Avis: Mutations/Multicelluars Mutations (2012 [2013], dEN, 2CD): [bc]: B+(*)
  • Rara Avis (2013 [2015], Not Two): [bc]: B+(**)
  • Reed Trio: Last Train to the First Station (2008-10 [2011], Kilogram): [bc]: B+(*)
  • The Vandermark Quartet: Big Head Eddie (1993, Platypus): [bc]: B
  • Vandermark 5: Drink, Don't Drown (1997, Savage Sound Syndicate): [bc]: B+(*)
  • Vandermark 5: Thinking on One's Feet (1998, Savage Sound Syndicate) B+(**)
  • Ken Vandermark/Tim Daisy: August Music (2006 [2007], self-released): [bc]: A-
  • Ken Vandermark/Tim Daisy: The Conversation (2010-11 [2011], Multikulti): [bc]: B+(***)
  • Ken Vandermark/Paal Nilssen-Love: Letter to a Stranger (2011 [2012], Smalltown Superjazz): [bc]: B+(***)
  • Witches & Devils: Empty Bottle Chicago (1997 [2000], Savage Sound Syndicate): [bc]: B+(*)

Unpacking: Found in the mail last week:

  • Antonio Adolfo: Hybrido: From Rio to Wayne Shorter (AAM): April 7
  • Bryan and the Aardvarks: Sounds From the Deep Field (Biophilia): April 28
  • Ernest Dawkins New Horizons Ensemble: Transient Takes (Malcom)
  • Duo Baars Henneman & Dave Burrell: Transdans (Wig)
  • Tristan Honsinger/Antonio Borghini/Tobias Delius/Axel Dörner: Hook, Line and Sinker (De Platenbakakkerij)
  • Abdullah Ibrahim: Ancient Africa (1973, Delmark/Sackville): March 24
  • Jentsch Group Quartet: Fractured Pop (Fleur de Son): April 7
  • Mike Longo Trio: Only Time Will Tell (2017, CAP): March 31
  • Linda May Han Oh: Walk Against Wind (Biophilia): April 14
  • Michael Rabinowitz: Uncharted Waters (Cats Paw): April 28
  • Sult/Lasse Marhaug: Harpoon (Conrad Sound/Pica Disk): advance
  • Ivo Perelman/Matthew Shipp: The Art of Perelman-Shipp, Volume 1: Titan (Leo)
  • Ivo Perelman/Matthew Shipp: The Art of Perelman-Shipp, Volume 2: Tarvos (Leo)
  • Ivo Perelman/Matthew Shipp: The Art of Perelman-Shipp, Volume 3: Pandora (Leo)
  • Ivo Perelman/Matthew Shipp: The Art of Perelman-Shipp, Volume 4: Hyperion (Leo)
  • Ivo Perelman/Matthew Shipp: The Art of Perelman-Shipp, Volume 5: Rhea (Leo)
  • Ivo Perelman/Matthew Shipp: The Art of Perelman-Shipp, Volume 6: Saturn (Leo)
  • Ivo Perelman/Matthew Shipp: The Art of Perelman-Shipp, Volume 7: Dione (Leo)

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