there's so much to post about, all of a sudden...
i bid thee wintry greetings, reader, from snowy south wales: yes, you reader, since people do still read this blog on a daily basis, even if they have long since got out of the habit of letting me know about it. well, that's ok; i've long ago (obviously) accepted this as part and parcel of what i'm doing here, hence it's no imposition to continue it -
- but, as i said recently, i have been feeling a general thawing/conscious shedding of defensive cynicism towards my fellow humans (triggered off just before xmas in my own "scrooge experience"! *1); and i felt it was really high time i got over myself and signed up to the tcf monthly download thing. so much music is on there already, it's scary really, but beyond (for a minute) the ordinary (for us) business of collecting music recordings, there is the greater and more important matter of contributing to creative art which is, with no irony at all, good for the soul and spirit. of all concerned... good for everybody. it has felt weird to be out in the cold for so long. (fer sum reason i jes hadda do it.) definitely time to warm up a bit.
so here i am still listening to the month's free download:
and hoho yes, all very mind-blowing that is too. (i shit you not.) i have also got there in time to grab last month's, the carnegie hall solo recital fragment from 1972 (a pretty barren year). which is nice. oh, and a quick glance at the "sampler" persuaded me to strap that one on as well. not bad for an evening's work really ;-)
(this has been going on for the last month now, pretty much. in the buildup to xmas i bought some stuff in the leo's sale, much of it braxton of course (yes... and believe it or not there is still some which i haven't got), and saw that arrive just in time for the end-of-the-world-which-didn't-happen; the next few days saw me trying to get through those (still only partially successful!). i then spent some of the money i'd been given before the 24th online, and continued a few days later after a muse and ponder about what i really wanted to buy with it. guess what i bought with it? mainly more anthony braxton cds. (a couple of months off, and then a complete binge):
järvenpää '88 - as later raved over
victoriaville 1992 (great quartet)
john shiurba's 5 x 5 thing (inc. greg kelley, g. robair... and b!)
7 comp's trio '89 (which is a seriously impressive album)
old dogs 2007 (YES!)
- this in addition to those i had already snaffled in the sale. (some special stuff in there too.) so, yeah, rather than just stack those up and then get depressed about how little time i was gonna get to lissen to 'em, i just started squeezing 'em in however and whenever i could. (still haven't finished old dogs, mind you. or some of the double leos.) and then, well, xmas went, new year came and went, and as cds arrived i was playing them, and then i decided to explode (for some (set of) reason(s)) into the most fertile month this blog has enjoyed since march '08. that was mainly guided day-in-day-out by this meta-talisman of an album, or (to be precise) a few parts of the first disc thereof. but, y'know, that's powerful stuff and will unlock doors (apparently!).
- now i arrive at another collection-point, evidently, and have downloaded the above-mentioned recordings from tcf. that tentet, wow - worth it just for the incredible trap drum display given by kevin norton during the forty-ninth minute (i.e. from 48.00ish onwards). worth it for that, but replete with so, so much more.
***
- well, i enjoyed that anyway ;-)
[as you can see, i classify any of b's own music under the category braxton, for (several) obvious reasons. in the second playlist, james carter's version of comp. 40q is "jazz" because he (young carter) is himself choosing to make that statement about it, reclaim it as rep or songbook. if anyone's really interested in querying any others then drop me an email or something :) ]
if i have anything useful to report on any of this then i'll be back. meanwhile, like i say... two months with scarcely a flicker of braxton and one jam-packed with him. yin, yang, we can work with that... go check out the 2001 tentet!! remarkable sounds from the (notionally) reed-heavy group; kevin o'neil plays a blinder too as usual. (i will try and remember one day to repost my corrected rip of another concert by this band.)
c x
[hello to alex hawkins - nice to correspond with you again, get that album of covers on the go i reckon! start thinking of collaborators..!]
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