Woebot
Well-known member
A good friend sent me this email the other day, and (I hope this is OK with him) I thought I'd open it up to the floor:
"I’ve got a question about end 60's/begin 70's jazz. I’m digging into that stuff at the moment, and from earlier posts of you, you seem to know a lot about this stuff AND have a bit of the same taste I have. It’s hard to find reliable information on this stuff. For instance, people rave about Cecil Taylor and Albert Ayler, but what I heard from them, it does nothing for me, or rather, I find it’s horrible. Things I do like are things like Pharoah Sanders (Karma, Black Unity, Tauhid, Izipho Zam) Alice Coltrane (Journeys in Satchidananda, World Galaxy), Archie Shepp (Live at the panafrican festival), Don Cherry (Mu, Eternal Rhythm, Brown Rice) Sun Ra (Lanquidity, Space is the place), Art ensemble of Chicago (theme de yoyo). On my fence are Roland Kirk and Ornette Coleman, some things are kinda nice, but most of it leaves me cold (free jazz, the shape of jazz to come)
From what I read, I’m interested in things on the BYG label (like Alan Silva, Arthur Jones, Clifford Thornton, Dewey Redman, Grachan Moncur III, Sunny Murray), AACM people (like Joseph Jarman, Roscoe Mitchell, Muhal Richard Abrams) and someone like Marzette Watts. The problem is, I can find nowhere to listen to this stuff, and when I order it online, I’m afraid I’ll find I paid lots of money for some horrible stuff. Do you know these guys? Which would you recommend? Have you any other recommendations?"
Actually I am very sympathetic with him. Before the free lot ride in on their lancers they ought to bear that in mind. I mean skronk isn't to everyone's taste, and actually I have a pretty low threshold when it comes to it myself. I haven't put that much thought into his contention but here's my 5c:
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• First off check Kirk Degiorgio's site. The link is on the www.woebot.com links bar. Kirk has heavy jazz ears but isnt that fond of the free stuff either, so he's a good place to start.
• Roland Kirk's Root Strata is brilliant. Others like "The Inflated Tear" and (isit?) "Man with The Three Way Horn", and his eponymous one don't hit the mark. Actually I think Kirk is a lesser talent.
• The nicest Ornette is "Change of the Century" Ramblin' off that is everything Free Jazz might be. I saw Ornette live the other day and he was brilliant. I have a lot of his other records (like about 6!) but theyre often a bit iffy, and certainly difficult listening.
• BYG is cool. I have a heap of that stuff (as do Nick Wrigley (who I hope chimes in) and Jon Dale) Probably the most listenable are Don Cherry's Mu Part 2 and (my fave) Gracan Moncur's LP. The Shepps, the Silvas, the Sharroks theyre all OK, but a bit skronky.
• Again AACM, I have a bit. "Reese and the young ones" (?) is pretty OK. I always wanted a copy of Roscoe Mitchell's "Sound".
Literally off the top of my head:
• There are some good ones amidst the non-jazzy stuff here: http://www.woebot.com/movabletype/archives/000082.html Especially the George Duke and the Phillip Cohran.
• er thats it for the moment. I'll chip in with other stuff when i get my juices up
"I’ve got a question about end 60's/begin 70's jazz. I’m digging into that stuff at the moment, and from earlier posts of you, you seem to know a lot about this stuff AND have a bit of the same taste I have. It’s hard to find reliable information on this stuff. For instance, people rave about Cecil Taylor and Albert Ayler, but what I heard from them, it does nothing for me, or rather, I find it’s horrible. Things I do like are things like Pharoah Sanders (Karma, Black Unity, Tauhid, Izipho Zam) Alice Coltrane (Journeys in Satchidananda, World Galaxy), Archie Shepp (Live at the panafrican festival), Don Cherry (Mu, Eternal Rhythm, Brown Rice) Sun Ra (Lanquidity, Space is the place), Art ensemble of Chicago (theme de yoyo). On my fence are Roland Kirk and Ornette Coleman, some things are kinda nice, but most of it leaves me cold (free jazz, the shape of jazz to come)
From what I read, I’m interested in things on the BYG label (like Alan Silva, Arthur Jones, Clifford Thornton, Dewey Redman, Grachan Moncur III, Sunny Murray), AACM people (like Joseph Jarman, Roscoe Mitchell, Muhal Richard Abrams) and someone like Marzette Watts. The problem is, I can find nowhere to listen to this stuff, and when I order it online, I’m afraid I’ll find I paid lots of money for some horrible stuff. Do you know these guys? Which would you recommend? Have you any other recommendations?"
Actually I am very sympathetic with him. Before the free lot ride in on their lancers they ought to bear that in mind. I mean skronk isn't to everyone's taste, and actually I have a pretty low threshold when it comes to it myself. I haven't put that much thought into his contention but here's my 5c:
--------------
• First off check Kirk Degiorgio's site. The link is on the www.woebot.com links bar. Kirk has heavy jazz ears but isnt that fond of the free stuff either, so he's a good place to start.
• Roland Kirk's Root Strata is brilliant. Others like "The Inflated Tear" and (isit?) "Man with The Three Way Horn", and his eponymous one don't hit the mark. Actually I think Kirk is a lesser talent.
• The nicest Ornette is "Change of the Century" Ramblin' off that is everything Free Jazz might be. I saw Ornette live the other day and he was brilliant. I have a lot of his other records (like about 6!) but theyre often a bit iffy, and certainly difficult listening.
• BYG is cool. I have a heap of that stuff (as do Nick Wrigley (who I hope chimes in) and Jon Dale) Probably the most listenable are Don Cherry's Mu Part 2 and (my fave) Gracan Moncur's LP. The Shepps, the Silvas, the Sharroks theyre all OK, but a bit skronky.
• Again AACM, I have a bit. "Reese and the young ones" (?) is pretty OK. I always wanted a copy of Roscoe Mitchell's "Sound".
Literally off the top of my head:
• There are some good ones amidst the non-jazzy stuff here: http://www.woebot.com/movabletype/archives/000082.html Especially the George Duke and the Phillip Cohran.
• er thats it for the moment. I'll chip in with other stuff when i get my juices up