just sitting here chillin like bob dylan...* listening to the charlie parker project, which i haven't heard before. excellent, constantly invigorating and fascinating music! there will plenty to say about this i'm sure... one of these days. right now it's gotta get in the queue. here's a look at (the top part of) the queue:
1. penultimate braxtothon phase two review (moers quartet)
2. playlist two
3. thoughts on for alto
4. charles gayle and sonny simmons reviews (honest!)
very tempted also to undertake a proper look at comp. 6d (i.e. the second one on 3 comps of new jazz). just examine that one piece in as much detail as i feel like. this would in turn be the first of however many, focusing in more closely on single tracks which revisit the first two braxtothon phases. (also, possibly looking at various versions of one composition. but maybe not quite yet...)
with all this in mind - i am seriously considering posting some sound files. in the first instance these would be single tracks from official recordings which are nonetheless (well and truly) out of print. but i would like to know what people think before i make a decision. if i post sound files, will you be interested? remember if you don't mail me or comment, i shan't know either way.
1. penultimate braxtothon phase two review (moers quartet)
2. playlist two
3. thoughts on for alto
4. charles gayle and sonny simmons reviews (honest!)
very tempted also to undertake a proper look at comp. 6d (i.e. the second one on 3 comps of new jazz). just examine that one piece in as much detail as i feel like. this would in turn be the first of however many, focusing in more closely on single tracks which revisit the first two braxtothon phases. (also, possibly looking at various versions of one composition. but maybe not quite yet...)
with all this in mind - i am seriously considering posting some sound files. in the first instance these would be single tracks from official recordings which are nonetheless (well and truly) out of print. but i would like to know what people think before i make a decision. if i post sound files, will you be interested? remember if you don't mail me or comment, i shan't know either way.
* or was it matt dillon? ;-)
9 comments:
mcclintic sphere and i were always loosely in favour of the idea, we just didn't want to start off that way. but some of this stuff is outrageously unavailable, and if people are interested...
...it must be said also that in some cases the original released versions were appallingly mixed/mastered and/or pressed so one would be hard put to recommend the official product even if it *were* available
This?
That?
Or
The Other?
Sound samples would be a nice touch. OOP material shouldn't ruffle anyone's feathers.
Looking forward to the Moers Quartet review. Incidentally, 23B from that LP is usually what I spin for my unsuspecting house guests whom I try to convert into Braxophiles. Needless to say, I don't have many visitors anymore, but what the hell...I love the record more than I need friends (heh heh...).
hmmm... well i guess this tells me what i needed to know, i.e. not many people read the blog and those who do, don't check it very often (which is about what one would expect)... if i add sound files i can probably increase the readership... do i want to do that? not sure at the moment..!
*** martini, thanks for the comment... i hope you don't fall out with me over the moers review!! (which is next up - i will leave the current post up top for a few days.) i didn't hate it or anything but i did find it disappointing in some ways... now, the first encore (which is included in my first playlist) is the track i was planning to put up first - it's not available anywhere else, that is, there are no other official releases which include that composition (23f) and it's a very interesting one... but i have found out since that moers actually are still selling vinyls of virtually their entire back catalogue - so technically the album is in print, which puts paid to any future ideas about posting the entire album somewhere... i am still strongly tempted to put up that one track and see what the response is (sound is not great, it would really appeal only to diehards i think)
Interesting news about Moers.
Partly inspired by your monumental preseverance, cent, I've started trying to compare alternate versions of Braxton numbers. I've decided to start with solo pieces, & have just listened to 8G on 'News from the 70s', followed by the same from Milano 1979. The catalogue at the back of 'Forces in motion' describes this as 'for solo instrument with visual notation & co-ordinate instructions.' To G in particular it addresses 'multiphonics- medium pulse'. Well, I take multiphonics on a wind instrument in the strict sense to be an extended technique using alternative fingering or embouchure that enables a chord or a double-stop to be heard, at any rate more than 1 note simultaneously, whereas what Braxton does on Milano is more like what I'd call voiced blowing (like Roland Kirk's flute) i.e.singing from the throat while you blow. However that may be, this aspect, voiced blowing or multiphonics or whatever comes in only near the end of the 1971 version, which leaves me wondering...
I think mistitling is out of the question here, since Braxton's own tapes were used. Any thoughts on this from fellow bloggees would be of interest.
from what i remember, martinelli says that "if it isn't 8g, it's something very similar" or words to that effect. the original version is on for alto, of course... later versions of (what i take to be) this composiition sound a lot more assured than the studio version. i can't clearly remember now what i said about the two 1971 solos in the braxtothon... it's back there somewhere! i need to find a way of making this site more navigable i think :)
i think multiphonics is often taken to mean (sub)vocalising and simultaneously playing, *as well as* the playing of more than one note simultaneously (on what is in principle a single-line instrument, obviously!)
those braxton tapes were probably not very well labelled, or not labelled at all... don't forget that the numbering system was basically martinelli's idea and only came later on... back in '71, would he have written out the graphic titles for a random bunch of guerilla recordings..? unlikely perhaps!
aha, oh yeah, i remember now:
http://tinyurl.com/2an2pd
you have to go right to the bottom to find the (brief) comments on 8g... they are of the, ahem, "ecstatic" kind ;-)
indeed that in turn was one of the things which triggered the diatribe (in the comments) about extended vocab... i am currently working on a longer and more detailed piece, tracking the creation of this vocab as an extrapolation from dolphy (or something..!)
all will become clear(ish)
c x
Further comparative listening -77B. Too bad I don't have access to the Moers solo version, but the 2 I listened to again were from the the string quartet record (sound aspects 1979) & from Milano (Leo).
The version on the string quartet album is less than half the length, but I don't know if it's a question of concision, as, apart from an oblique reference to 'Donna Lee' which never really gets developed, this is not too strong on structure, despite fulfilling the remit of 'fast pulse bebop-like phrasing language'
Milano's version, recorded a matter of 9 months previous sounds more premeditated, as much of its 6.45 time consists of exercise-like patterns, i.e. a series of similar rhythmic composites taken thru different aspects of harmony, different keys, inverted etc. These are broken up with slight variations from time to time, but the most significant rhythmic breaks come just after 4.00 & 5.0, with pairs of longer notes, the 1st time separated by varying wide intervals, the 2nd time the emphasis is on chromatic intervals. This version might not sound so 'free' as the one on the string quartet album, but I find it more satisfying as spontaneous composition.
P.S. I don't think I'll be able to do this on a daily basis.
wahey :))
see i knew i wasn't the only one... but yeah, like you say it can take its toll... still, for me it arrives at a time when i have time to dedicate to it and it's where my interest has taken me anyway... whatcha gonna do...
thanks a lot for the thoughts! i really like the milano version too, there's just a real buzz about it - i don't know the string quartet album, i have seen the entry in the discog though and i think you may have mentioned it on the r3bored...?
the great thing is that. as you say, most normal individuals will not feel the need to record their thoughts in so much detail on a regular basis (never mind daily) - but how much music can one find which repays that much attention in the first place? granted there is plenty of it in the world, enough to go around and cater for most tastes; but tell me where the horizon is and what it looks like in b's case - i can't seem to reach it..! actually i have neither the hope, expectation or desire of reaching it any time soon... the more you bring as a listener... etc
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