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Monday, June 29, 2020

Music Week

Expanded blog post, June archive (finished).

Music: Current count 33526 [33485] rated (+41), 211 [216] unrated (-5).

Last Monday of the month, so spent most of the day doing bookkeeping for the monthly roll-up (link above). Five weeks this month, so the total is up -- 193 records, or 194 if you count the Hal Singer regrade, which I slipped into "old music" instead of "grade changes" for context. About half old music, with dives into records I had missed when a new one (or a death or a reader question) tempted me to look further or some other reference).

Speaking of questions, I field ones about David Murray and James Carter, and duck one on jazz books, in my latest batch. Use the form to ask me more.


Recommended music links: No systematic search, but these are a few things I had open:

Songwriter Johnny Mandel (94) also died this week.


New records reviewed this week:

  • Al Bilali Soudan: Tombouctou (2020, Clermont Music): [r]: A-
  • Jehnny Beth: To Love Is to Live (2020, Caroline): [r]: B+(*)
  • Don Braden/Joris Teepe Quartet: In the Spirit of Herbie Hancock: Live at De Witte (2019 [2020], O.A.P.): [r]: B+(***)
  • Phoebe Bridgers: Punisher (2020, Dead Oceans): [r]: B+(**)
  • Daniel Carter/Matthew Shipp/William Parker/Gerald Cleaver: Welcome Adventure! Vol. 1 (2019 [2020], 577): [r]: B+(***)
  • Caterpillar Quartet: Threads (2020, ESP-Disk): [cdr]: B+(**)
  • Whit Dickey Trio: Expanding Light (2019 [2020], Tao Forms): [r]: A-
  • Beth Duncan: I'm All Yours (2020, Saccat): [cd]: B [07-24]
  • Bob Dylan: Rough and Rowdy Ways (2020, Columbia): [r]: A-
  • John Finbury: Quatro (2020, Green Flash Music): [cd]: B
  • Jean-Marc Foussat/Daunik Lazro/Evan Parker: Café Oto 2020 (2020, Fou, 2CD): [cd]: B+(**)
  • Wendy Gondeln/Mats Gustafsson/Wolfang Voigt: The Shithole Country & Boogie Band (2016-18 [2020], Corbett vs. Dempsey): [bc]: B+(***)
  • CeeLo Green: CeeLo Green Is Thomas Callaway (2020, Easy Eye Sound): [r]: B
  • Haim: Women in Music Pt. III (2020, Columbia): [r]: B+(**)
  • Hinds: The Prettiest Curse (2020, Mom + Pop): [r]: A-
  • Jason Kao Hwang: Human Rites Trio (2019 [2020], True Sound): [cd]: A- [07-01]
  • Jumpstarted Plowhards: Round One (2019, Recess, EP): [r]: B+(*)
  • Corb Lund: Agricultural Tragic (2020, New West): [r]: B+(**)
  • Benjamin Moussay: Promontoire (2019 [2020], ECM): [r]: B+(**)
  • Bobby Previte/Jamie Saft/Nels Cline: Music From the Early 21st Century (2019 [2020], RareNoise): [r]: B+(*)
  • Sonar With David Torn: Tranceportation (Volume 2) (2019 [2020], RareNoise): [bc]: B+(***)
  • Alister Spence: Whirlpool: Solo Piano (2019 [2020], Alister Spence Music, 2CD): [cd]: B+(*) [07-24]
  • Dan Willis and Velvet Gentlemen: The Monk Project (2018-19 [2020], Belle Avenue): [cd]: B [07-17]
  • Adrian Younge & Ali Shaheed Muhammad: Jazz Is Dead 001 (2020, Jazz Is Dead, EP): [r]: B+(*)
  • Adrian Younge & Ali Shaheed Muhammad: Jazz Is Dead 002: Roy Ayers (2020, Jazz Is Dead, EP): [r]: B+(**)

Recent reissues, compilations, and vault discoveries:

  • Willem Breuker/Han Bennink: New Acoustic Swing Duo (1967-68 [2019], Corbett vs. Dempsey, 2CD): [bc]: B+(***)
  • Grayson Capps: South Front Street: A Retrospective 1997-2019 (1997-2019 [2020], The Royal Potato Family): [r]: B+(*)
  • Neil Young: Homegrown (1974-75 [2020], Reprise): [r]: B+(**)

Old music:

  • Al Bilali Soudan: Al Bilali Souadn (2012, Clermont Music): [r]: B+(**)
  • Don Braden Quintet: The Time Is Now (1991, Criss Cross): [r]: B+(**)
  • Don Braden: Organic (1994 [1995], Epicure): [r]: B+(**)
  • Don Braden: Brighter Days (2001, High Note): [r]: B+(*)
  • Milt Buckner & Hal Singer: Milt & Hal [The Defnitive Black & Blue Sessions] (1966 [2004], Black & Blue): [r]: B+(**)
  • Hyphy Hitz (2004-07 [2007], TVT): [dl]: B+(***)
  • Pharoah Sanders: Izipho Zam (My Gifts) (1969 [1973], Strata-East): [yt]: B+(***)
  • Hal Singer: Rent Party (1948-56 [1994], Savoy Jazz): [r]: A-
  • Hal Singer: Blues and News (1971, Futura): [r]: B+(**)
  • Hal Singer/Jef Gilson: Soul of Africa (1974, Le Chant Du Monde): [r]: A-
  • Hal Singer: Senior Blues (1991, Carrere): [r]: B+(**)
  • Hal Singer & Massimo Faraň Trio: We're Still Buddies (2001 [2005], Azzurra Music): [r]: B+(*)
  • Hal Singer: Challenge (2010, Marge): [r]: A-


Grade (or other) changes:

  • Hal Singer With Charlie Shavers: Blue Stompin' (1959 [1994], Prestige/OJC): [r]: [was: B+] B+(***)


Unpacking: Found in the mail last week:

  • Ricardo Grilli: 1962 (Tone Rogue) [07-10]

Daily Log

TomDispatch tweeted a link to the Robert Reich article I cited yesterday. I replied:

"Coddling dictators" isn't a strategy to get re-elected, but not escalating conflicts by shaming other countries is a good idea; Trump's willingness to deal with anyone could have been his saving grace in foreign relations; too bad it's no good at it.

Sunday, June 28, 2020

Weekend Roundup

Blog link.

Late-breaking tweet from @realDonaldTrump: "Nobody wants a Low IQ person in charge of our Country," trying to deflect from the obvious by adding that "Sleepy Joe is definitely a Low IQ person!" Sure, he's never struck me as especially bright, but it's rather clever that the Democrats are nominating someone Trump cannot attack without the slanders reflecting back on him.

Trump's approval rate at 538 is down to 40.6%, with 56.1% disapprove. That's the biggest split I can recall.

Onion headline: Officials warn defunding police could lead to spike in crime from ex-officers with no outlet for violence. When I mentioned this to my wife, she already had examples to cite. Article cites "L.A. police chief Michel Moore" as saying:

The truth is that there are violent people in our society, and we need a police department so they have somewhere to go during the day to channel their rage. If these cuts are allowed to continue, we could be looking at a very real future where someone with a history of domestic abuse is able to terrorize their spouse with impunity instead of being occupied testing out new tactical military equipment or pepper-spraying some random teens. The fact that these dangerous attackers and killers are being gainfully employed by the LAPD is the only thing standing between us and complete chaos.

By the way, there is a new batch of questions and answers, not all on music. Ask more, here.


Some scattered links this week:

Wednesday, June 24, 2020

Daily Log

Trying to figure out a sloppy joe recipe. Sources:

  1. The Wholesome Dish
  2. Five Heart Home
  3. The Chunky Chef
  4. Beef Is What's for Dinner
  5. All Recipes
  6. Taste of Home
  7. Culintary Hill
  • ground beef: 1 lb
  • butter: C(1 tbs)
  • onion: A(1/2 c), C(1/2 large), D(1 c), E(1/4 c), G(1)
  • green bell pepper: A(1/2 c), C(1/3), D(1 c), E(1/4 c)
  • garlic: B(2 cloves), C(3)
  • tomato sauce: ABG(8 oz), D(14.5 oz)
  • tomato paste: C(1 tbs)
  • ketchup: BG(1/2 c), C(2/3 c), D(1/4 c), E(3/4 c), F(1 c)
  • water: F(1/4 c)
  • barbecue sauce: D(1/4 c)
  • brown sugar: A(1/2 c), B(1-2 tbs), D(2 tsp), E(3 tsp), F(2 tbs), G(1 tbs)
  • worcestershire sauce: B(2 tbs), C(1/2 tsp), DG(1 tbs), F(2 tsp)
  • red wine vinegar: A(1 tbs)
  • white vinegar: G(1 tbs)
  • prepared (yellow) mustard: B(1 tsp), C(1 tsp), E(1 tsp), F(2 tsp)
  • dry mustard: D(1 tsp), G(1 tsp)
  • chili powder: C(3/4 tsp)
  • garlic powder: B(1/2 tsp), E(1/2 tsp), F(1/2 tsp)
  • onion powder: B(1/4 tsp), F(1/2 tsp)
  • salt: A(1 tsp), FC(1/2 tsp), EG(to taste)
  • ground black pepper: AC(1/4 tsp), BEG(to taste)

Came up with this one.

Monday, June 22, 2020

Music Week

Expanded blog post, June archive (in progress).

Music: Current count 33485 [33449] rated (+36), 216 [215] unrated (+1).

Don't feel like writing much here. Started the week thinking I'd track down some records by the late Keith Tippett, but quickly got sidetracked by Stan Tracey, an older British pianist who did some duet records with Tippett c. 1977. I then picked up some old World Saxophone Quartet records, adding them to my David Murray Guide. I probably should have done this anyway, but someone on Facebook commented on my missing Revue, which he teased was some kind of consensus pick as the greatest jazz album of the decade. The old Gary Bartz records came after reviewing his new one. I should note that Harlem Bush Music, which combines the two albums before Juju Street Songs, was previously A-.

Didn't do much on new records this week. Started most days with golden oldies, then when I sat down at the computer, switched over to old jazz rather than going through my new queue. Best reviewed new records this week were by Bob Dylan and Phoebe Bridgers -- who got more favorable reviews than Dylan this week (32 to 22 in my metacritic file.) I'll check out both soon, but was more curious about Black Eyed Peas (AOTY critic score 50/1, user score 83/30). Not great, but much better than that, with a choice cut called News Today.


New records reviewed this week:

  • Ambrose Akinmusire: On the Tender Spot of Every Calloused Moment (2020, Blue Note): [r]: B+(**)
  • Gary Bartz and Maisha: Night Dreamer Direct-to-Disc Sessions (2019 [2020], Night Dreamer): [r]: B+(***)
  • Black Eyed Peas: Translation (2020, Epic): [r]: B+(***)
  • Chromeo: Quarantine Casanova (2020, Chromeo, EP): [r]: B+(**)
  • Orrin Evans and the Captain Black Big Band: The Intangible Between (2020, Smoke Sessions): [r]: B+(**)
  • Fra Fra: Funeral Songs (2020, Glitterbeat): [r]: B
  • Mike: Weight of the World (2020, 10k): [bc]: B+(*)
  • Aaron Parks: Little Big II: Dreams of a Mechanical Man (2019 [2020], Ropeadope): [r]: B+(**)
  • Perfume Genius: Set My Heart on Fire Immediately (2020, Matador): [r]: B+(*)
  • Rolling Blackouts Coastal Fever: Sideways to New Italy (2020, Sub Pop): [r]: B+(**)

Recent reissues, compilations, and vault discoveries:

  • Misha Mengelberg/Peter Brötzmann/Evan Parker/Peter Bennink/Paul Rutherford/Derek Bailey/Han Bennink: Groupcomposing (1970 [2018], Corbett vs. Dempsey): [bc]: B+(*)

Old music:

  • Gary Bartz Ntu Troop: Juju Street Songs (1972-73 [1997], Prestige): [r]: B+(**)
  • Gary Bartz Ntu Troop: I've Known Rivers and Other Bodies (1973, Prestige): [r]: B+(***)
  • Gary Bartz: Shadows (1991 [1992], Timeless): [r]: B+(**)
  • Gary Bartz: ?The Red and Orange Poems (1994, Atlantic): [r]: B+(**)
  • Joe Harriott Quintet: Swings High (1967 [2003], Cadillac): [bc]: B+(**)
  • Dudu Pukwana & Bob Stuckey: Night Time Is the Right Time: 60s Soho Sounds (1967-68 [2010], Cadillac): [r]: B
  • Keith Tippett Tapestry Orchestra: Live at Le Mans (1998 [2009], Edition, 2CD): [r]: B
  • Stan Tracey: Showcase (1958, Vogue): [r]: B+(*)
  • The Stan Tracey Quartet: Jazz Suite: Inspired by Dylan Thomas's Under Milk Wood (1965, Columbia): [r]: A
  • Stan Tracey/Keith Tippett: Supernova (1977 [2008], Resteamed): [r]: B+(**)
  • The New Stan Tracey Quartet: For Heaven's Sake (1995 [1996], Cadillac): [r]: B+(***)
  • Stan Tracey: Solo : Trio (1997 [1998], Cadillac): [r]: B+(***)
  • Stan Tracey & Danny Moss: Just You, Just Me (2003 [2004], Avid): [r]: B+(***)
  • Stan Tracey Quartet: Senior Moment (2008 [2009], Resteamed): [r]: B+(**)
  • Stan Tracey Quintet: The Flying Pig (2013 [2014], Resteamed): [r]: B+(***)
  • Ben Webster/Stan Tracey: Soho Nights Vol. 2 (1964 [2012], Resteamed): [r]: A-
  • Ben Webster/Stan Tracey: Soho Nights Vol. 1 (1968 [2008], Resteamed): [r]: B+(***)
  • World Saxophone Quartet: Steppin' With the World Saxophone Quartet (1978 [1979], Black Saint): [r]: B
  • World Saxophone Quartet: W.S.Q. (1980 [1981], Black Saint): [r]: B+(*)
  • World Saxophone Quartet: Revue (1980 [1982], Black Saint): [r]: B+(*)
  • World Saxophone Quartet: Live in Zürich (1981 [1984], Black Saint): [r]: B+(*)
  • World Saxophone Quartet: Live at Brooklyn Academy of Music (1985 [1986], Black Saint): [r]: B
  • World Saxophone Quartet: Four Now (1995 [1996], Justin Time): [r]: B+(**)
  • World Saxophone Quartet: Takin' It 2 the Next Level (1996, Justin Time): [r]: B
  • World Saxophone Quartet: 25th Anniversary: The New Chapter (2000 [2001], Justin Time): [r]: B


Unpacking: Found in the mail last week:

  • Jeff Cosgrove/John Medeski/Jeff Lederer: History Gets Ahead of the Story (Grizzley Music) [07-17]
  • Dan Willis and Velvet Gentlemen: The Monk Project (Belle Avenue) [07-17]

Sunday, June 21, 2020

Blog link.

All in all, not a very good week for Donald Trump. It started off with Supreme Court rulings that the 1965 Civil Rights Act prohibits discrimination against LGBTQ people, and that Trump's revocation of the DACA program was invalid because the Trump administration failed to explain why. The marches continued, as did the police outrages provoking more demonstrations, but also a few reform stories, and even some indictments and/or dismissals that show that, despite the fury of Trump and the right, protest is getting somewhere. Trump spent much of the week threatening and/or suing his former national security director and his niece for writing books showing some of the many ways he is incompetent and/or vile. And just as we're still processing his recent purge of federal inspectors for trying to do their jobs, he goes off and fires a US attorney who had opened investigations of some of his cronies. He's finding Covid-19 infection rates still on the rise in nearly half of the states, including virtually all of the "red" ones in the South. He expected to finish the week on a high after resuming his campaign rallies in one of those states, only to find the Tulsa arena half-empty (and considerably less than half-masked). It's hard to see how that turns into a win.

Even before the rally, most polls show Trump losing badly to Joe Biden. See Nate Silver: Our new polling averages show Biden leads Trump by 9 points nationally, which shows a bunch of 2016 Trump states flipping: Michigan, Florida, Wisconsin, Pennsylvania, Arizona, North Carolina, Ohio, Georgia, but not quite Iowa (where Biden is -0.6) or Texas (-0.7). Trump's approval rating is 41.4% (vs. 55.2% disapprove). The generic congressional ballot is at 48.4% Democrats, 40.4% Republicans. Of course, too early to count your chickens. The one thing I'm most certain of is that the rest of the 2020 campaign season is going to be the nastiest in American history.

Quite a few sublists below, usually starting with the first piece I found on a subject, so you'll have to scour around to find ones of personal interest. In fact, quite a lot of everything.


Some scattered links this week:

Tuesday, June 16, 2020

Music Week

Expanded blog post, June archive (in progress).

Music: Current count 33449 [33418] rated (+31), 215 [214] unrated (+1).

British avant-pianist Keith Tippett died last week, at 72. He was a major figure, although having never sorted out his scattered discography, I can't say how major. I can say that on occasion he rivaled Cecil Taylor for explosive invention. One issue is that while he recorded several albums with Mujician as a title, he also led a group (with Paul Dunmall, Paul Rogers, and Tony Levin) by that name through seven 1990-2006 albums. Another is that he dabbled in a wide range of music, especially along the prog rock fringe. He married pop singer/actress Julie Driscoll in 1970, and she changed her name to Julie Tippetts (meanwhile, her husband dropped the 's'), continuing a long career that veered far from the pop charts. She survives him. Also on Tippett:

I'll look into Tippett a bit more next week, but as I'm writing this I've headed off on a Stan Tracey (1926-2013) detour.

One other death last week I should note somewhere is Carl Brewer, a former two-term mayor of Wichita. He was a moderate black Democrat, always seemed to be in tune with local business leaders but always seemed like a decent guy, never had a whiff of scandal, and never embarrassed us. (I'd like to say never did anything blatantly stupid, but I have to question his support for Lyndy Wells in the latest mayoral election.) People I know who knew him liked him a lot. None of those traits were common among the recent run of Wichita mayors.

Robert Christgau published his Consumer Guide: June, 2020, with an A+ for Run the Jewels RTJ4 (an A- here last week); an A for the Wussy album below; A- for Princess Nokia's Everything Is Beautiful, Serengeti's Ajai, and a Fats Domino live album I previously gave good but somewhat lower grades to; an A- for a Malian record I haven't found; a B+ for the Hamell on Trial album below; and a few more things -- I tried Westside Gunn, and even went back two previous releases, but nothing really stuck with me. I'm not conceding that I screwed up, but I've often had trouble catching rap lyrics (especially given limited plays), and that may be at work here.

Christgau asked me for some info on David Murray (occasioned by an Xgau Sez question), so I pasted a chunk of my Jazz Guides into an email. It occurred to me that I could add that to my Village Voice David Murray Guide (2006). The file turned out to be a mess, so I cleaned it up from "unpublished draft" and notes to incorporating the published edits. But rather than appending the more extensive reviews, I created a separate file. I also used the occasion to pick up a few records I had missed, as well as Kahil El'Zabar's new one, just out. Started a list of "other records" as a self-check, but haven't gotten very far with it.

After all my pleading, I only have one question answered this week. More, please.

I did get one more piece of mail via the form: Piotr wrote in to inform me that he's created a Wikipedia page for Tom Hull (critic). It's a very substantial page, with a lot of biographical detail, all properly footnoted (most based on my RockCritics.com interview). I've written him with a few corrections and clarifications, so no need to itemize them here. Besides, most make for slightly better myth than reality.

Two of the three new jazz A-list records this week were reviewed the old-fashioned way, from CDs. Probably helped get them the attention they deserve. I missed the A- Murray album because it was a mere Penguin Guide ***, but turns out it features El'Zabar as the magic beans. Found the old Joe Harriott records after noting the new vault release. Been wanting to hear them for a long time, but none match Free Form (1960).

By the way, I've been keeping the metacritic file reasonably up to date. Run the Jewels' RTJ4 made a strong run for the top spot, but is still one point behind Fiona Apple's Fetch the Bolt Cutters. At AOTY and Metacritic, the latter has slightly higher scores, but fewer reviews. Waxahatchie's Saint Cloud is third, then there's a substantial point gap before you get to Caribou, Dua Lipa, Perfume Genius, Tame Impala, Thundercat, Yves Tumor, Lucinda Williams, Charlie XCX, Shabaka and the Ancestors, and Soccer Mommy.


New records reviewed this week:

  • AuB: AuB (2019 [2020], Edition): [r]: B+(*)
  • César Cardoso: Dice of Tenors (2020, self-released): [r]: B+(*)
  • Elysia Crampton: Orcorara 2010 (2020, Pan): [r]: B-
  • Whit Dickey: Morph (2019 [2020], ESP-Disk, 2CD): [cd]: A-
  • Dion: Blues With Friends (2020, Keeping the Blues Alive): [r]: B+(*)
  • Kahil El'Zabar: Kahil El'Zabar's Spirit Groove (2019 [2020], Spiritmuse): [r]: A-
  • Hamell on Trial: The Pandemic Songs (2020, self-released): [bc]: A-
  • Daniel Hersog: Night Devoid of Stars (2019 [2020], Cellar Live): [cd]: B+(**)
  • Norah Jones: Pick Me Up Off the Floor (2020, Blue Note): [r]: B+(*)
  • Ute Lemper: Rendezvous With Marlene (2020, Jazzhaus): [r]: B+(***)
  • Madre Vaca: Winterreise (2020, Madre Vaca): [cd]: B
  • Rudresh Mahanthappa: Hero Trio (2020, Whirlwind): [cd]: A-
  • Stephen Riley: Friday the 13th (2018 [2020], SteepleChase): [r]: B+(***)
  • Dua Saleh: Rosetta (2020, Against Giants, EP): [r]: B+(*)
  • John Scofield: Swallow Tales (2019 [2020], ECM): [r]: B+(***)
  • Sara Serpa: Recognition (2019 [2020], Biophilia): [cd]: B+(**)
  • Walter Smith III/Matthew Stevens/Micah Thomas/Linda May Han Oh/Nate Smith: In Common 2 (2019 [2020], Whirlwind): [r]: B+(*)
  • Westside Gunn: Flygod Is an Awesome God (2019, Griselda): [r]: B+(*)
  • Westside Gunn: Hitler Wears Hermes VII (2019, Griselda): [r]: B+(*)
  • Westside Gunn: Pray for Paris (2020, Griselda): [r]: B+(*)

Recent reissues, compilations, and vault discoveries:

  • Joe Harriott Quintet: Jazz for Moderns (1962 [2020], Gearbox, EP): [r]: B+(**)
  • Wussy: Ghosts (2006-19 [2020], self-released): [bc]: B+(***)

Old music:

  • The Channels Featuring Earl Lewis: Golden Oldies (1956-59 [2013], Essential Music Group): [r]: B+(*)
  • Joe Harriott & Co. Feat John Dankworth & Tubby Hayes: Helter Skelter: Live, Rare and Previously Unreleased Recordings 1955-1963 (1955-63 [2017], Acrobat): [r]: B+(**)
  • Joe Harriott Quintet: Abstract (1961-62 [2015], J. Joes J. Edizioni Musicali): [r]: B+(***)
  • The Joe Harriott Double Quintet: Indo-Jazz Suite (1966, Atlantic): [r]: B+(***)
  • Ranee Lee: Seasons of Love (1997, Justin Time): [r]: B+(*)
  • David Murray: Let the Music Take You (1978, Marge): [r]: B+(***)
  • David Murray: Interboogieology (1978, Black Saint): [r]: B+(**)
  • David Murray: The London Concert (1978 [1999], Cadillac, 2CD): [r]: B+(***)
  • David Murray Quartet: A Sanctuary Within (1991 [1992], Black Saint): [r]: A-


Unpacking: Found in the mail last week:

  • Juhani Aaltonen/Jonas Kullhammar/Christian Meaas Svendsen/Ilmari Heikinheimo: The Father, the Sons & the Junnu (Moserobie)
  • Beth Duncan: I'm All Yours (Saccat) [07-24]
  • Jason Kao Hwang: Human Rites Trio (True Sound) [07-01]
  • Noshir Mody: An Idealist's Handbook: Identity, Love and Hope in America 2020 (self-released) [07-03]
  • Corey Smythe: Accelerate Every Voice (Pyroclastic)
  • Stephane Spira/Giovanni Mirabassi: Improkofiev (Jazzmax) [06-19]
  • Lou Volpe: Before & After (Jazz Guitar)

Sunday, June 14, 2020

Blog link.

No intro this week.

Tweet of the week, from paulo. (@itskingapollo):

If the police did their jobs, everyone would trust them. Ain't no song called "Fuck the Fire Department."

Also, from Rhys Blakely (@rhysblakely):

A 70-year-old man in Seattle survived the coronavirus, got applauded by staff when he left the hospital after 62 days -- and then got a $1.1 million, 181-page hospital bill.


Some scattered links this week:

Tuesday, June 09, 2020

Music Week

Expanded blog post, June archive (in progress).

Music: Current count 33418 [33378] rated (+40), 214 [209] unrated (+5).

Cutoff was Monday evening, after I wrapped up Weekend Roundup, so that has a bit to do with the above-average count. Shifted back to new music last week, starting with some Phil Overeem recommendations, and ended with rummaging through my tracking file (jazz subset), with a few asides along the way. (One of Cliff Ocheltree's Facebook posts mentioned If Deejay Was Your Trade and Hyphy Hitz. Couldn't find the latter, but the Blood & Fire compilation was so good I wanted to hear more from Big Joe.) Still, didn't bother with my promo queue at all. It had been near-empty, but has recovered to the extent I need to pay it some attention.

I reviewed Thank Your Lucky Stars' Girl in Her 29s last week, noting that I couldn't find anything via Google on the CD. I'm told that this website will help. I also received a hand-written letter from Ben Barnes, which reads in part (or I think it does, as my eyes and his handlettering don't always mesh; I also spared you the all-caps, and added a link I'm almost 100% sure of and italics for the album title):

As for the mysterious online presence I vowed long ago to only spend time and money on the things I love and never try to profit from them. Whenever someone asks about buying a disc I ask them to contribute to Mikey's Chance Canine Rescue and then I happily mail them Girl in Her 29s.

Looking back at last week's "review," I realize I didn't finish it -- by, like, saying something about the record. Meant to, but ran out of time and decided to run what I had anyway, and still haven't gotten back to it, so sorry. I will re-run the album cover.

On June 3, Robert Christgau tweeted:

I try to be shrewd about this stuff, not show my hand before I publish my review, but it would be just wrong to deny that it's been A LONG TIME since I felt like a new album was just what I'd been needing the way the new Run the Jewels does.

I had the same reaction to RTJ4, although I didn't explain it very coherently below -- written after two plays before I saw the tweet -- no doubt because I always have trouble following rap lyrics. But even I caught enough to realize that this was the time. (Link above is to the whole feed. Even now the tweet in question is well down, but it won't hurt you to scroll for it.)

The Ogún Meji Duo album was reviewed by Karl Ackermann as a new release at All About Jazz. Ackerman wrote: "The album makes a powerful statement that could have been a response to Emmett Till in 1955 or George Floyd in 2020." True enough, but it actually dates from the Michael Brown era. I might have graded it higher, but tired of the lecture, and got annoyed by the Soundcloud-like website streaming. But drummer Mark Lomax and saxophonist Edwin Bayard are awesome as usual. I should note that Lomax's 400 Years Suite is currently number one on my 2020 list, and his 12-CD 400: An Afrikan Epic was number three on the 2019 list.


In non-musical matters, Crocodile Chuck suggested a Weekend Roudup link: Jack Rasmus: Confronting Institutional Racism. Rasmus is an economist in California, subtitles his blog "Predicting the Global Eonomic Crisis," has a bunch of books on economics (keyword: neoliberalism), as well as some stage plays and DVDs. I noticed one of his books in 2010 -- Epic Recession: Prelude to Global Depression -- but missed six since then. Most evocative title was Obama's Economy: Recovery for the Few (paperback, 2012, Pluto Press). First book was a big one: The War at Home: The Corporate Offensive From Ronald Reagan to George W Bush (2006, Kyklos)./p>


I got one question following last week's Questions and Answers post. I'll take a stab at answering it later this week. Meanwhile, ask me more.


New records reviewed this week:

  • 79rs Gang: Expect the Unexpected (2020, Sinking City): [r]: B+(***)
  • Sebastien Ammann: Resilience (2018 [2020], Skirl): [bc]: B+(**)
  • Lucian Ban/John Surman/Mat Maneri: Transylvanian Folk Songs (2020, Sunnyside): [r]: B+(**)
  • Will Bernard: Freelance Subversives (2020, Ropeadope): [r]: B
  • Body Count: Carnivore (2020, Century Media): [r]: B+(**)
  • Daniel Carter/Patrick Holmes/Matthew Putman: Whoadie (2018-19 [2020], 577): [r]: C+
  • Emmet Cohen Featuring Benny Golson & Albert "Tootie" Heath: Masters Legacy Series Volume 3 (2019, self-released): [r]: B+(**)
  • Emmet Cohen Featuring George Coleman: Masters Legacy Series Volume 4 (2019, self-released): [r]: B+(***)
  • Dinosaur: To the Earth (2019 [2020], Edition): [r]: B+(**)
  • Dave Douglas: Dizzy Atmosphere: Dizzy Gillespie at Zero Gravity (2019 [2020], Greenleaf Music): [r]: B+(**)
  • Lajos Dudas: The Lake and the Music (2019 [2020], JazzSick): [r]: B+(***)
  • Freddie Gibbs & the Alchemist: Alfredo (2020, ESGN/ALC/Empire): [r]: B+(*)
  • GoGo Penguin: GoGo Penguin (2020, Blue Note): [r]: B+(***)
  • Human Feel: The Tower Tapes #5 (2019 [2020], Jazz Club Ferrara): [bc]: B+(**)
  • Anne Mette Iversen Quartet + 1: Racing a Butterfly (2020, Bjurecords): [bc]: A-
  • KeiyaA: Forever, Ya Girl (2020, Keiya): [r]: B+(**)
  • Lady Gaga: Chromatica (2020, Interscope): [r]: B+(***)
  • John Law's Congregation: Configuration (2018 [2020], Ubuntu Music): [r]: B+(***)
  • Little Simz: Drop 6 (2020, Age 101, EP): [r]: B+(*)
  • Sabir Mateen/Patrick Holmes/Federico Ughi: Survival Situation (2018 [2020], 577): [r]: B+(**)
  • Medhane: Full Circle (2020, TBHG, EP): [bc]: B
  • Medhane: Cold Water (2020, TBHG): [bc]: B+(*)
  • Mike and the Moonpies: Touch of You: The Lost Songs of Gary Stewart (2020, Prairie Rose): [r]: B+(**)
  • Eva Novoa: Satellite Quartet (2017 [2020], Fresh Sound New Talent): [r]: B+(*)
  • Kurt Rosenwinkel Trio: Angels Around (2020, Heartcore): [r]: B+(**)
  • Run the Jewels: RTJ4 (2020, Jewel Runners/RBC/BMG): [r]: A-
  • Matthew Shipp: The Piano Equation (2020, Tao Forms): [r]: B+(**)
  • Sunwatchers: Oh Yeah? (2020, Trouble in Mind): [r]: B
  • Chad Taylor Trio: The Daily Biological (2019 [2020], Cuneiform): [dl]: A-

Recent reissues, compilations, and vault discoveries:

  • Bobby Shew/Bill Mays: Telepathy (1978 [2019], Fresh Sound): [r]: B+(**)

Old music:

  • Big Joe: Keep Rocking and Swinging (1977, Live and Love): [r]: B+(***)
  • Dave Burrell: Black Spring (1977, Marge): [r]: B+(**)
  • Emmet Cohen Featuring Jimmy Cobb: Masters Legacy Series Volume 1 (2017, Cellar Live): [r]: B+(***)
  • Emmet Cohen Featuring Ron Carter: Masters Legacy Series Volume 2 (2017 [2018], Cellar Live): [r]: B+(**)
  • Emmet Cohen: Dirty in Detroit (2017 [2018], self-released): [r]: B+(**)
  • Lajos Dudas: Radio Days: Birthday Edition 75 (2016, JazzSick): [r]: B+(***)
  • Lajos Dudas: Some Great Songs Vol. 2 (2017, JazzSick): [r]: B+(**)
  • If Deejay Was Your Trade: The Dreads at King Tubby's 1974-1977 (1974-77 [1994], Blood & Fire): [r]: A-
  • Mister Charlie's Blues (1926-1938) (1926-38 [1970], Yazoo): [dl]: B+(**)
  • Ogún Meji Duo: #BlackLivesMatter (2014, CFG Multimedia): [os]: B+(***)


Unpacking: Found in the mail last week:

  • Caterpillar Quartet: Threads (ESP-Disk) [06-26]
  • Whit Dickey: Morph (ESP-Disk, 2CD)
  • Jean-Marc Foussat/Daunik Lazro/Evan Parker: Café Oto 2020 (Fou)
  • The Mark Harvey Group: A Rite for All Souls (1971, Americas Musicworks, 2CD) [07-17]
  • Alister Spence: Whirlpool: Solo Piano (Alister Spence Music, 2CD) [07-24]

Monday, June 08, 2020

Weekend Roundup

Blog link.

While this week was unfolding, I've been reading a book by Sarah Kendzior: Hiding in Plain Sight: The Invention of Donald Trump and the Erosion of America. She is a journalist based in St. Louis, with a Ph.D. in anthropology and a specialty in post-Soviet Central Asia and its descent into mafia capitalism and oligarchy. She sees Trump as part of a vast criminal enterprise, anchored in Russia, which she insists on describing as "hostile to America." I think she has that analysis ass-backwards. Capitalism's driving force everywhere is greed, which constantly pushes the limits of custom and law. The only thing that separates capitalists from criminals is a democratic state that regulates business and enforces limits on destructive greed. The former Soviet Union failed to do that, but the United States has a checkered history as well, with the major entrepreneurs of the 19th century known as Robber Barons, and a sustained conservative assault on the regulatory state at least since 1980. Trump may be closer to the Russian oligarchs than most American capitalists because of his constant need to raise capital abroad, but he is hardly Putin's stooge. Rather, they share a common desire to suppress democratic regulation of capital everywhere, as well as an itch for suppressing dissent. Arguing that the latter is anti-American (treason even) ignores the fact that that's a big part of the program of the reigning political party in the US.

Kendzior's arguments in this regard annoy me so much I could go on, explaining why the supposed US-Russia rivalry is based on false assumptions, and why Democrats are hurting themselves by obsessing on the Trump/Russia connection. I was, after all, tempted at several points to give up on the book. But I stuck with it: it's short, and anyone who despises Trump that much is bound to have some points. Also, I lived in St. Louis a few years myself, so was curious what she had to say about her battleground state. My interest paid off with her discussion of the 2014 protests against police brutality in Ferguson, a majority-black suburb just north of St. Louis with a predominantly white police force that was largely self-funded by arrests and fines. This is history, but it's also today in microcosm (pp. 164-166):

Understanding Ferguson is not only a product of principle but of proximity. The narrative changes depending on where you live, what media you consume, who you talk to, and who you believe. In St. Louis, we still live in the Ferguson aftermath. There is no real beginning, because [Michael] Brown's death is part of a continuum of criminal impunity by the police toward St. Louis black residents. There is no real end, because there are always new victims to mourn. In St. Louis, there is no justice, only sequels.

Outside of St. Louis, Ferguson is shorthand for violence and dysfunction. When I go to foreign countries that do not know what St. Louis is, I sometimes joke, darkly, that I'm from a "suburb of Ferguson." People respond like they are meting a witness of a war zone, because that is what they saw on TV and on the internet. What they missed is that Ferguson was the longest sustained civil rights protest since the 1960s. The protest was fought on principle because in St. Louis County, law had long ago divorced itself from justice, and when lawmakers abandon justice, principle is all that remains. The criminal impunity many Americans are only discovering now -- through the Trump administration -- had always structured the system for black residents of St. Louis County, who had learned to expect a rigged and brutal system but refused to accept it.

In the beginning, there was hope that police would restrain themselves because of the volume of witnesses. But there was no incentive for them to do so: no punishment locally, and no repercussions nationally. Militarized police aggression happened nearly every night, transforming an already traumatic situation into a showcase of abuse. The police routinely used tear gas and rubber bullets. They arrested local officials, clergy, and journalists for things like stepping off the sidewalk. They did not care who witnessed their behavior, even though they knew the world was watching. Livestream videographers filmed the chaos minute by minute for an audience of millions. #Ferguson, the hashtag, was born, and the Twitter followings of those covering the chaos rose into the tens of thousands. But the documentation did not stop the brutality. Instead, clips were used by opponents of the protesters to try to create an impression of constant "riots" that in reality did not occur. The vandalism and arson shown on cable news in an endless loop were limited to a few nights and took place on only a few streets.

National media had pounced on St. Louis, parachuting in when a camera-ready crisis was rumored to be impending, leaving when the protests were peaceful and tame. Some TV crews did not bother to hide their glee at the prospect of what I heard one deem a real-life Hunger Games, among other flippant and cruel comments. The original protests, which were focused on the particularities of the abusive St. Louis system, became buried by out-of-town journalists who found out-of-town activists and portrayed them as local leaders. The intent was not necessarily malicious, but the lack of familiarity with the region led to disorienting and insulting coverage. Tabloid hype began to overshadow the tragedy. Spectators arrived from so many points of origins that the St. Louis Arch felt like a magnet pulling in fringe groups from around the country: Anonymous and the Oath Keepers and the Nation of Islam and the Ku Klux Klan and the Revolutionary Communist Party and celebrities who claimed they were out of deep concern and not to get on television. Almost none of the celebrities ever returned.

In fall 2014, the world saw chaos and violence, but St. Louis saw grief. Ask a stranger in those days how they were doing and their eyes, already red from late nights glued to the TV or internet, would well up with tears. Some grieved stability, others grieved community, others simply grieved the loss of a teenage boy, unique and complex as any other, to a system that designated him a menace on sight. But it was hard to find someone who was not grieving something, even if it was a peace born of ignorance. It was a loss that was hard to convey to people living outside of the region. I covered the Ferguson protests as a journalist, but I lived it as a St. Louisan. Those are two different things. It is one thing to watch a region implode on TV. It is another to live within the slow-motion implosion. When I would share what I witnessed, people kept urging me to call my representative, and I would explain: "But they gassed my representative too."

By the way, here are the latest section heads (as of 7:37 PM CDT Sunday) in The New York Times' Live Updates on George Floyd Protests:

  • Majority of the Minneapolis City Council pledges to dismantle the Police Department
  • Trump sends National Guard troops home
  • New York's mayor pledges to cut police funding and spend more on social services
  • Democratic lawmakers push for accountability, but shy away from calls to defund the police
  • Barr says he sees no systemic racism in law enforcement
  • Romney joins protesters in Washington.
  • Protesters march through Manhattan, calling for an end to police violence.
  • Thousands turn out in Spokane, Wa., to protest "a virus that's been going on for 400 years."
  • Biden will meet with the family of George Floyd in Houston.
  • The view from above: aerial images of protests across the country. [link]
  • A Confederate status is pulled down during a protest in Virginia
  • Global protests against racism gain momentum.
  • An officer shot an anti-bias expert who was trying to end a clash at a protest in San Jose, Calif.

A couple items there look like major breaks with the past. While the "progressive" mayors of Minneapolis and New York seems to have spent much of the last week being intimidated by the police forces that supposedly work for them, the balance of political forces in both cities may have shifted to viewing the police as the problem, not the solution. I started off being pretty skeptical of the protests, and indeed haven't been tempted to join them. But it does appear that they're making remarkable progress. And while I abhor any violence associated with the protests, one should never allow such noise to distract from the core issue of the protests. Indeed, given that so much of the violence the media likes to dwell on is directly caused by the police and the government's other paramilitary forces, it's hard not to see that the only way this ever gets resolved is by restoring trust and justice -- which is to say, by radically reforming how policing is done in America.

I expected such sprawl at the start of the week that I decided not to bother organizing sublists. Still, some fell out during the process, but I haven't gone back and organized as many as might make sense. In particular, there are several scattered pieces on the "jobs report": the one by Robert J Shapiro is the most important, but I got to it after several others.

This wound up running a day late. Only a couple links below came out on Monday, and I tried to only pick ones that added to stories I already had (e.g., I added Yglesias' piece on economic reporting, but didn't pick up the one on Biden's polling).


Here's a piece of artwork from Ram Lama Hull occasioned by the recent demonstrations. I pulled this particular one (out of many) from his Facebook page. Some are also on Imgur.

Qualified immunity is a legal doctrine that has come up a lot recently, as it makes it very difficult to hold police officers liable for their acts, even the use of excessive or deadly force. For example:

Parting tweet (from Angela Belcamino):

Who else but Trump could bring back the 1918 pandemic, the 1929 Great Depression, and the 1968 race riots all in one year?


Some scattered links this week:

Friday, June 05, 2020

Questions and Answers

Expanded blog post.

I asked Michael Tatum to take a look at my first batch of Questions and Answers. He helped flag some necessary edits before I posted them early this week. He also suggested that instead of just linking to them (as I did again above), I should have included them directly in the blog. I don't plan on doing that as a matter of course, but this time I reckon they could use a little more exposure. For one thing I got zero new questions (here's the form) since they went up.

I imagine there are hundreds (if not thousands) of similar offers scattered around the web. I've felt a need for some kind of feedback for a long time, but found that comment systems were more work to maintain than they're worth. Two features are direct antecedents to mine: Greil Marcus's Ask Greil), and Robert Christgau's Xgau Sez. Joe Levy suggested the latter as a way of generating some public interest in Christgau's then-new Duke University Press essay collections, Is It Still Good to Ya? Fifty Years of Rock Criticism 1967-2017 and Book Reports: A Music Critic on His First Love, Which Was Reading.

Joe suggested "Ask Greil" as a model, but when I looked at the implementation, I had some second thoughts. I adapted the news roll code to display the Q&A in 15-unit chunks, most recent first, stringing earlier pages together. ("Ask Greil" is in flat files, one per year.) I added tags to the data file, thinking that someday I could support more search options. (I'd like to eventually put them into the database, but didn't want to have to update it more often than I do.) I also added a captcha to cut down on spam questions. I recently adapted the Christgau code for my own site, adding a few more tags (but still not making good use of them).

My main change was to add a "keywords" field. I expected (or hoped) to get a broader range of questions than the music queries that predominate for Christgau and Marcus, and thought it would be a good idea to be able to easily sort my answers into topics. Still, four of the first five questions were on music, including one of those potentially tedious requests to elaborate on grades. A sixth question, which I didn't answer here, was really more of a tip (Whitney Rose) -- more properly answered in last week's Music Week. While my email is elsewhere on the site (and still works best if you want a direct answer), feel free to use the form for tips, comments, or occasional kind words.

I rather hope to see wide-ranging questions, one that provoke me to think, maybe even do a little research, although I'd be happy enough with ones where I can just rattle off experiences and opinions. I like to keep an open mind about where this is going. And I'd like some feedback to prod me along. Thanks, in advance.


Pick up questions and answers here.

Tuesday, June 02, 2020

Music Week

Expanded blog post, June archive (in progress).

Music: Current count 33378 [33333] rated (+45), 209 [209] unrated (+0).

Post delayed a day because, well, a lot of things kept me from working on it on Monday. Frozen Sunday night, aside from adding Monday's unpacking.

A few weeks ago, I set up a form for asking questions. I finally decided I had enough to do the extra work of setting up an answer page, so Q&A is now a going concern. I've added a couple fields beyond what I did for Robert Christgau, but I'm not really using them yet. At some point, it should be possible to get selective lists based on keywords, or possibly other search methods.

One question I didn't answer was actually a tip, Jeopardy-style phrased as a question. Mongo asked if I had heard Whitney Rose's We Still Go to Rodeos ("the best country album I've heard so far this year"). No, I hadn't, but the obvious response was to listen to it, so it's in this week's list. I disagree, but my initial reaction was pretty similar to my initial underrating of Kalie Shorr's Open Book in 2019. Still, have major doubts it will ever catch up with the Lucinda Williams and Brandy Clark records (or Chicago Farmer, if he qualifies). I went on and sampled a few more recent alt-country albums, but didn't find anything really better.

Until those, most of what I listened to last week were old jazz albums. The first few were unheard items from the JazzTimes ballots I mentioned recently, at least until I got carried away with Paul Motian. Then I got into Max Roach, partly in response to one of the questions.

Got a rare rock record in the mail recently, with a hand-printed note explaining that Robert Christgau reviewed Thank Your Lucky Stars' debut album, Spinning Out of Orbit, in my one shot 2013 Black Friday Special, and hoping I might like the new one. I do. The CD is actually very nicely packaged, but has no presence on the web, and the note didn't even include an email address, so I have no idea how you'd go about buying a copy. (The old CD, which I haven't heard, is listed on Amazon, at $30.08, 1 copy left, with other vendor offers from $29.09.) Without an album cover available, I thought I'd try my old scanner -- an "all-in-one" Epson Stylus Photo RX580 -- only to find it doesn't work. (I replaced the 6 ink cartridges a while back, and now it's stuck in a mode where it insists on me first installing new ink cartridges before it does anything else. Two Ubuntu scanner programs fail to recognize it.) What I wound up doing was taking a picture with my cell phone, then running it through a bunch of rotate/shear/crop commands in Gimp. Very little margin on top to work with, but I managed to keep it even though I chopped off the other three edges. I'm real surprised it looks as good as it does.

I should mention that Joe Yanosik has written up Sonic Youth: A Consumer Guide to their live albums. They've released a bunch of them on Bandcamp. I had seen mention of a couple of them recently, but didn't realize there were this many, and after last year's release of Battery Park NYC, July 4th 2008 -- which Joe also includes, as an A+ -- I wasn't in a big hurry to go there. Nice that Joe has illuminated the way.

Alto saxophonist Lennie Niehaus (90) died last week. He's probably best known as the director of many Clint Eastwood soundtracks, but he was an important "West Coast cool jazz" musician, played for Stan Kenton 1952-59 (minus a stretch in the Army), and recorded a number of well-regarded (albeit a bit fancy for my taste) albums, especially in the 1950s, before focusing on soundtracks. I've heard a couple of his albums, and need to check out more.

English tenor saxophonist Don Weller (79) also died. I can't say that I know his work. I also heard that Sun Ra bassist Bill Davis died, but haven't found an obituary yet. Other recent musician deaths: Majek Fashek (57, Nigerian reggae singer), John Nzenze (80, Kenyan guitarist), Evaldo Gouveia (91, MPB singer-songwriter).

Horrors enough on Monday and Tuesday to get me to open Weekend Roundup as soon as I post this.


New records reviewed this week:

  • Caitlin Cannon: The TrashCannon Album (2020, Caitlin Cannon): [r]: B+(**)
  • Jason Isbell & the 400 Unit: Reunions (2020, Southeastern): [r]: B+(*)
  • Carly Rae Jepsen: Dedicated Side B (2020, School Boy): [r]: B+(**)
  • Rent Romus/Heikki Koskinen/Life's Blood Ensemble: Manala (2019 [2020], Edgetone): [cd]: B+(***)
  • Whitney Rose: We Still Go to Rodeos (2020, MCG): [r]: B+(**)
  • Thank Your Lucky Stars: Girl in Her 29s (2020, Sounds Deevine): [r]: A-
  • Pam Tillis: Looking for a Feeling (2020, Stellar Cat): [r]: B+(*)
  • Bill Warfield and the Hell's Kitchen Funk Orchestra: Smile (2020, Planet Arts/43 Street): [cd]: B
  • Jaime Wyatt: Neon Cross (2020, New West): [r]: B+(*)

Old music:

  • Paul Bley/Paul Motian: Notes (1987 [1988], Soul Note): [r]: B+(***)
  • Paul Bley: Reality Check (1994 [1996], SteepleChase): [r]: B+(**)
  • Paul Bley: Notes on Ornette (1996 [1997], SteepleChase): [r]: B+(***)
  • Paul Bley/Evan Parker/Barre Phillips: Sankt Gerold (1996 [2000], ECM): [r]: B+(***)
  • Paul Bley: Play Blue: Oslo Concert (2008 [2014], ECM): [r]: B+(*)
  • Clifford Brown/Max Roach: Clifford Brown and Max Roach at Basin Street (1956 [2002], Verve): [r]: A-
  • Miles Davis: Big Fun (1969-72 [2000], Columbia/Legacy, 2CD): [r]: B+(***)
  • Booker Little: Booker Little 4 & Max Roach (1958 [1959], United Artists): [r]: B+(**)
  • Paul Motian: Conception Vessel (1972 [1973], ECM): [r]: B+(**)
  • Paul Motian: Tribute (1974 [1975], ECM): [r]: B+(***)
  • Paul Motian Trio: Le Voyage (1979, ECM): [r]: B+(**)
  • Paul Motian: Psalm (1981 [1982], ECM): [r]: B+(***)
  • Paul Motian: It Should've Happened a Long Time Ago (1984 [1985], ECM): [r]: B+(*)
  • Paul Motian Trio: Sound of Love: At the Village Vanguard (1995 [1997], Winter & Winter): [r]: A-
  • Paul Motian and the Electric Bebop Band: Flight of the Blue Jay (1996 [1997], Winter & Winter): [r]: B+(**)
  • Paul Motian: Trio 2000 + One (1997 [1998], Winter & Winter): [r]: B+(**)
  • Paul Motian and the E.B.B.B.: Europe (2000 [2001], Winter & Winter): [r]: B+(*)
  • Paul Motian and the E.B.B.B.: Holiday for Strings (2001 [2002], Winter & Winter): [r]: B+(**)
  • Paul Motian Trio 2000 + Two: Live at the Village Vanguard Volume III (2006 [2010], Winter & Winter): [r]: B+(***)
  • Paul Motian Trio 2000 + Two: On Broadway Volume 5 (2008 [2009], Winter & Winter): [r]: A-
  • The Odean Pope Saxophone Choir: The Saxophone Shop (1985 [1986], Soul Note): [r]: B+(***)
  • Buddy Rich/Max Roach: Rich Versus Roach (1959 [1990], Mercury): [r]: B+(**)
  • Max Roach/Clifford Brown: The Best of Max Roach and Clifford Brown in Concert (1954 [1956], GNP): [r]: B+(***)
  • Max Roach: Max Roach + 4 (1956-57 [1990], Emarcy): [r]: A-
  • Max Roach: Jazz in 3/4 Time (1956-57 [1957], Emarcy): [r]: B+(*)
  • Max Roach: The Max Roach 4 Plays Charlie Parker (1957-58 [1995], Verve): [r]: B+(***)
  • Max Roach: Award-Winning Drummer (1958 [1960], Time): [r]: B+(**)
  • Max Roach: Percussion Bitter Sweet (1961, Impulse!): [r]: B+(***)
  • Max Roach: It's Time (1962, Impulse!): [r]: B+(***)
  • Max Roach Quartet: Speak, Brother, Speak! (1962 [1963], Fantasy): [r]: A-
  • Max Roach: The Max Roach Trio Featuring the Legendary Hasaan (1964 [1965], Atlantic): [r]: B+(***)
  • Max Roach: Drums Unlimited (1965-66 [1966], Atlantic): [r]: B+(**)
  • Max Roach: Members, Don't Git Weary (1968, Atlantic): [r]: B+(***)
  • Max Roach Quartet: Pictures in a Frame (1979, Soul Note): [r]: B+(**)
  • Max Roach: M'Boom (1979 [1980], Columbia): [r]: B+(***)
  • Max Roach: Live in Berlin (1984 [2009], Jazzwerkstatt): [r]: B+(***)


Unpacking: Found in the mail last week:

  • John Finbury: Quatro (Green Flash Music)
  • Madre Vaca: Winterreise (Madre Vaca) [06-04]
  • Rudresh Mahanthappa: Hero Trio (Whirlwind) [06-19]


May 2020