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Mission Newsletter |
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ACOUSTIC LEVITATION Dear Readers, As always, we offer suggestions about recordings and give praise to the most memorable performances, as best we can; we can’t hear every CD, attend every show, nor be everywhere in the world. We wish we could. I’ve just had to downsize my collection and I’m shedding tears, but meanwhile, let’s doff our hats to our Best of 2015.Steve
Koenig, * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * STEVE KOENIG tumrecords.com The Katie Bull Project. All Hot Bodies Radiate. The saucy singer is supported here by the fine crew of Jeff Lederer, Landon Knoblock, Joe Fonda and George Schuller. The boldness shown in her unique take on “Ding Dong The Witch Is Dead” is only one of thirteen delights on this solid disc. Ashokan Indie AI 001. katiebull.com Joseph Daley. The Tuba Trio Chronicles. The great tubist pays homage to the Sam Rivers tuba trio with Warren Smith, marimba, percussion; and Scott Robinson, saxes, bass flute, jazzophone, theremin, and waterphone. JoDa Music 004. jodamusic.com Miles Davis. At Newport 1955-1975: The Bootleg Series Vol. 4. Columbia Legacy 88875081952, 4 CDs. milesdavis.com, legacyrecordings.com Anthony De Mare. Liasons: Reimagining Sondheim from the Piano. The pianist known for doing Rzewski and other moderns presents a triple-CD set of various composers the likes of Duncan Sheik, Mary Ellen Childs, and Wynton Marsalis to Mark-Anthony Turnage refracting Sondheim songs through their own lenses. You don’t need to know the Sondheim songs to get much pleasure from this marvelous project. It has a 34-page booklet explaining everything. ECM New Series 2470-72. anthonydemare.com, ecmrecords.com Jad Fair & Jason Willett. The Greatest Power. No, not a gospel record but another delectable collection of short, quirky songs from Fair, leader of Half Japanese, with his pal Willette. If you don’t know Jad Fair, imagine a cross between Daniel Johnston and Pere Ubu. Dymaxion Groove. (no catalog number) jadfair.org, dymaxion.fm Satoko Fujii Tobira. Yamiyo ni Karasu. Pianist Fujii expands her New Trio (bassist Todd Nicholson and percussionist Takashi Itani) by adding trumpeter Natsuki Tamura. Libra204-038. satokofujii.com, natsukitamura.com, librarecords.com Phil Haynes. Sanctuary. Five sets of solo percussion: wood hoop drum, cymbals on stands, and hand cymbals. Subtle; rewards close listening. Corner Store Jazz CSJ-0086. cornerstorejazz.com, philhaynes.com Jason Kao Hwang. Voice. Two sequences of poems by a variety of poets, with music composed by violinist Hwang with some room for improvisation, each set with a different ensemble. “Lifelines” has mezzo Deanna Reyea, new to me, a fascinating voice and delivery, sort of improvised, sort of sprechtstimme. The band includes Ken Filiano on bass, Taylor Ho Bynum on cornet and flugelhorn, and Andrew Drury on drums. “Words of Our Own” features baritone Thomas Buckner, with Joe McPhee on tenor sax and pocket trumpet, William Parker on bass, Sang Won Park on kayagum and ajeng, and Hwang on viola. Innova 938. jasonkaohwang.com, innova.mu ICP Orchestra. East of the Sun. The orchestra of the Instant Composers Pool, after last year’s 50-disc retrospective, come up with its first new single disc. Mengelberg, Moore, Honsinger and company are as savory as ever. ICP15. icporchestra.com Jon Irabagon. Inaction Is An Action. The excellent saxist in a riveting album of solo sopranino saxophone. Irrabagast 005. jonirabagon.com ist. ist:new york, featuring john zorn. Recorded at Tonic, 2001. On the final track only, Zorn. Harpist Rhodri Davies, bassist Simon Fell, cellist Mark Wastell. You probably cherish them from various releases on the emanem label. Confront CCS 40. efi.group.shef.ac.uk/musician/mwastell.html, rhodridavies.com, efi.group.shef.ac.uk/mfell.html Bobby Lance. First Peace/ Rollin’ Man. White NYC dude in Muscle Shoals, 1971. File with Delaney and Bonnie. Real Gone Music/Atlantic RGM-0332. realgonemusic.com Juliette Gréco. l’essentielle Gréco. This might be all rather than some of the great French singer’s work. Thirteen CDs, each with a different original label. The booklet contains each song’s writers, and the label and number the song appeared on. Decca/ Universal France 474 3165, 13CDs. Guillaume Machaut. Heinz Holliger. Machaut-Transkriptionen. Some unadulterated Machaut via the Hilliard Ensemble, and some of the great oboist Heinz Holliger’s transcriptions for four vocalists (the Hilliard) with three violas, with a nearly improvisatory modernist sound. ECM New Series 2224. ecmrecords.com Rob Mazurek and the Exploding Star Orchestra. Galactic Parables: Volume 1. Sun Ra-touched texts and a psych-jazz big band. Rich listening. Cuneiform Rune 409/410. robmazurek.com, cuneiformrecords.com Van Morrison. Astral Weeks (expanded). Mandatory (re)purchase due to the alternate takes (“Madame George,” “Beside You”) and extended release of “Slim Slow Slider” and especially “Ballerina,” which show what an amazingly improvisatory singer Van Morrison is. Collectors want to know: The Japanese WPCR-75419 has the olive Warner label, but with the Warner-7Arts escutcheon whereas this new one has the WB escutcheon. Oddly, the textured paper cover to this new one has the W7 logo on the cover, which the other issues don’t. The liner notes are more than excellent and give good credit to our friends bassist Richard Davis and vibraphonist Warren Smith, Jr. See below re sound quality. Warner Bros. R2 551312. Van Morrison. His Band And The Street Choir (expanded). Van’s third Warner album is given a remaster. Compared to the Japanese remaster WPRC-75421 from a few years back, the sound is different but not necessarily better. The new ones sound a wee bit mushy, and the Japanese issues highlight individual instruments and, for whatever reasons, get you more involved; edge-of-your-seat. Van fans will need this new issue for the truly fine five alternate tracks, so much better than the weak ones appearing on the Moondance multi-disc set from last year. Warner Bros. R2 551313. Mural. Tempo. Three sets recorded in the Rothko Chapel. Jim Denley, winds; Kim Kyhr, twelve-string guitar, zither; Ingar Zach, gran cassa, percussion. Not Morton Feldman-like at all, but slowly shifting acoustic and electronic patterns of sound, with many changes. This is a follow-up to a single-disc limited edition put out by the Rothko Gallery itself. Sofa547. 3CD. sofamusic.no, mural.no, rothkochapel.org/index.php?option=com_content&view=article&id=25&Itemid=10 Ivo Perelman, Mat Maneri and Tanya Kalmanovich. Villa-Lobos Suite. Free improvisations from Perelman with two violas inspired by Villa-Lobos, but not using any of his music or sound palette. Leo CD LR 742. tanyakalmanovich.com Ivo Perelman and Matthew Shipp. Callas. The sax/piano duo in free improvisations, which later were dedicated to various Maria Callas heroines. Leo LR CD LR 728/719, 2 CDs. Ivo Perelman and Matthew Shipp. Complementary Colors. A lower-keyed set of beautiful improvisations. Leo CD LR 744. ivoperelman.com, matthewshipp.com, leorecords.com Le Rex. Wild Man. A Swiss quintet of two saxes, trombone, tuba and drums, create a very second-line sound that will have your face grinning and your ass moving. lerexmusic.ch, cuneiformrecords.com Tom Robinson. Only The Now. In which our hero gives is a dozen brief songs, each of them exciting in a rock or cabaret way. Not a weak one in the bunch. It’s good to have Tom back is such good form. Lyrics included. Castaway Northwest/ Absolute CNRCD1. tomrobinson.com Andy Sheppard Quartet. Surrounded By Sea. Okay, so this sounds like the 1970s-80s Jan Garbarek group. That’s a good thing. ECM 2432. andysheppard.co.uk, ecmrecords.com Sly and The Family Stone. Live At The Fillmore East: October 4th & 5th, 1968. From before the album Stand! Sly’s was a good-time rock and soul band, with the same line-up they always had. Excitement abounds through all four discs. Excellent tape, but at a few random times there are balance problems. Doesn’t matter: no album this year gave me as much joy. All Sly fans must own this. Exclamation mark. Yellow Epic label replicas. Sony/Epic/Legacy 88843023712. legacyrecordings.com, slystonemusic.com Small Faces. The Decca Years: 1965-1967. I heard bits and pieces of this collection and was surprised that I didn’t already know how riveting these guys were, even when doing old blues covers. I also didn’t know that “Whole Lotta Love” was not written by Led Zeppelin. Great chunky 6x8” box containing 5 CDs (with a lift-up ribbon) in individual picture sleeves, various full-size original Decca labels, photo cards and an excellent,(approximately 60-page book. Plus, it wasn’t expensive. There is some overlap between tracks on the five CDs: Greatest Hits, Small Faces, From The Beginning, Rarities & Outtakes, and BBC Sessions. Decca/Universal (UK) 473 429-6, 5 CDs. Natsuki Tamura and Alexander Frangenheim. Nax. The intrepid trumpeter meets and improvises with the doublebassist in Berlin. Creative Sources 280CD. natsukitamura.com, creativesourcesrec.com Richard Thompson. Still. Get the double-disc edition; it’s more than worth the two dollar difference. All the songs are strong; I’m a Thompson freak, but not uncritical. Beeswing/Fantasy Fan-37477-02. richardthompson-music.com, concordmusicgroup.com/labels/Fantasy/ Yell At Eels. In Quiet Waters. In which the Dennis González clan’s ensemble of DG plus two sons give a smoking performance in Dallas. Fortune 0046 033. for-tune.pl * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * *
CRAIG NIXON Rez Abbasi Acoustic Quartet - Intents & Purposes. enja reztone.com/album/06-intents-purposes/ Rodrigo Amado - This Is Our Language. Not Two nottwo.com/#!mw922/hh0u3 Michael Bates – Northern Spy. Stereophonic outsidesources.org/buy-cd/ Karl Berger & Kirk Knuffke - Moon. NoBusiness nobusinessrecords.com/NBCD76-77.php Michael Bisio - Accortet. Relative Pitch relativepitchrecords.com/releases/rpr1040.html Tim Berne's Snakeoil - You've Been Watching Me. ECM ecmrecords.com/catalogue/143038752071 Samuel Blaser Quartet - Spring Rain. Whirlwind whirlwindrecordings.com/spring-rain/ Bobby Bradford & John Carter Quintet - NoUTurn Live In Pasadena, 1975. Dark Tree darktree-records.com/en/ Daniel Carter & Federico Ughi - Extra Room. 577 Records 577records.com/releases/5785/index.html Carlo Costa's Acustica - Strata. Neither/Nor carlocostasacustica.bandcamp.com/releases Chris Dingman - The Subliminal and the Sublime. Inner Arts Initiative inner-arts.org/the-subliminal-and-the-sublime/ Andrew Drury - Content Provider. Soup and Sound andrewdrury.bandcamp.com/album/content-provider Harris Eisenstadt - Canada Day IV. Songlines songlines.com/release/canada-day-iv/ Joe Fiedler Trio - I'm In. Multiphonics Music joefiedlersbigsackbut.bandcamp.com/ Milford Graves & Bill Laswell - Space,Time Redemption. TUM tumrecords.com/040-space-time-redemption Devin Gray - RelativE ResonancE. skirl skirlrecords.com/devin-gray-relative-resonance Mary Halvorson - Meltframe. Firehouse 12 firehouse12records.com/album/meltframe Ross Hammond - Lowburn rosshammond.bandcamp.com/album/lowburn Joel Harrison 5 - Spirit House. Whirlwind whirlwindrecordings.com/spirit-house/ Stephen Haynes - Pomegranate. New Atlantis newatlantisrecords.bandcamp.com/album/pomegranate Joe Hertenstein - HNH2. Clean Feed cleanfeed-records.com/product/hnh-2/ Jason Kao Hwang - Voice. Innova innova.mu/albums/jason-kao-hwang-edge/voice Jon Irabagon - Behind the Sky. Irabbagast Records cdbaby.com/cd/jonirabagon3 Rocco John Quartet - Embrace The Change. Unseen Rain unseenrainrecords.com/?page_id=2750 Max Johnson Trio - Something Familiar. Fresh Sound New Talent freshsoundrecords.com/record.php?record_id=6280 Henry Kaiser & Ray Russell – The Celestial Squid. Cuneiform cuneiformrecords.com/bandshtml/kaiser.html Chris Kelsey & Lewis Porter - Free, Kelsey-Porter Duo Plays Ornette vol 1. Tzazz Krytyk cdbaby.com/cd/chriskelseyandlewisporte Kirk Knuffke - Lamplighter. Fresh Sound New Talent freshsoundrecords.com/lamplighter-cd-6299.html Matt Lavelle's 12 Houses - Solidarity. Unseen Rain unseenrainrecords.com/?product=solidarity-matt-lavelles-12-houses-limited-edition-cd Chris Lightcap's Bigmouth - Epicenter. Clean Feed cleanfeed-records.com/product/epicenter/ Nick Mazzarella Trio - Ultraviolet. International Anthem Recording Company intlanthem.com/releases/iarc0005 Joe McPhee - Alone Together, The Solo Ensemble Recordings 1974 & 1979. Corbett vs. Dempsey corbettvsdempsey.com/2015/11/11/album-joe-mcphee-alone-together/ Billy Mintz - The 2 bass Band... Live. Thirteenth Note thirteenthnoterecords.com/2bb-page/ Ben Monder - Amorphae. ECM amazon.com/Amorphae-Ben-Monder/dp/B0142XHVX4 William Parker - For Those Who Are, Still. AUM Fidelity aumfidelity.com/aum09234.html Eric Person feat. Shinnosuke Takahashi - Duoscope. Distinction cdbaby.com/cd/ericperson4 Tomeka Reid Quartet. Thirsty Ear amazon.com/Tomeka-Reid-Quartet/dp/B013D10GQA Adam Rogers & David Binney - R & B. Criss Cross crisscrossjazz.com/album/1379.html Jamie Saft - Ticonderoga. Clean Feed cleanfeed-records.com/product/ticonderoga/ The Spanish Donkey - Raoul. Rarenoise rarenoiserecords.com/the-spanish-donkey Kamasi Washington - The Epic. Brainfeeder brainfeedersite.com/2015/05/06/kamasi-washington-the-epic/ Weather Report - The Legendary Live Tapes 1978-1981. Legacy amazon.com/The-Legendary-Live-Tapes-1978-1981/dp/B01543DFZO Nate Wooley Quintet - (Dance To) The Early Music. Clean Feed cleanfeed-records.com/product/dance-to-the-early-music/ Liner notes: John Kelman, for John Abercrombie - The First Quartet. ECM ecmrecords.com/catalogue/1443703901 * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * ROBERT REIGLE In alphabetical order: BALLON, Severine. Solitude. Cello
works by Rebecca Saunders-“Solitude”; Mauro Lanza-“La
Bataille De Caresme Et De Charnage”; James
Dillon-“Parjanya-Vata”; Liza Lim-“Invisibility”; and
Thierry Blondeau-“Black Bird.” Brussels: Outhere SA;
Aeon. AECD1647. outhere-music.com/en
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