Wozz: CDLog

Jacob Fred Jazz Odyssey - Telluride is Acoustic

Sat, 22 Feb 2003 06:21:59 GMT

The Fred just started selling this CD online. It was previously only available at their shows, and being that they've only been through town once (a show I missed because of work) since this live set was recorded in Telluride (a show I missed because I'm incredibly lame), I just received it. If you think the Fred is amazing live, you should hear them live and acoustic. To be fair, they're not entirely acoustic here - Reed uses some effects - but I'm not sure Reed would be Reed without some electronics. Only four tracks for a grand total of about 30 minutes, but its only $10. Along with Live at the Knit, required listening to get a sense of the Fred live.

Jacob Fred Jazz Odyssey - Welcome Home

Wed, 12 Feb 2003 02:33:38 GMT

This was the album that introduced me to JFJO, a band which any regular reader of this here blog knows I'm a big fan of. It was recorded live during several shows in 1998 and was released on Russ Gershon's Accurate Records, which I've mentioned in this space before which is the sole reason I picked it up to start with. This was recorded back when Jacob Fred was a septet with the continuing core of bassist Reed Mathis and keyboardist Brian Haas joined by trombonist Matt Leland, trumpeter Kyle Wright, guitarist Dove McHargue, percussionist Matthew Edwards, and the late Sean Layton on drums. This album reflects the much different sound the band had before it was stripped down to the current trio of Haas, Mathis, and Jason Smart on drums (replacing Brian's brother Richard). The band was a much cleaner and funkier experience than the out-there free-jazz exploration to which the trio has since been able to strech themselves. Nonetheless, it gives you a very good base on which to build your Fred experience. One of my favorites.

Apples in Stereo - Velocity of Sound

Tue, 11 Feb 2003 23:22:25 GMT

Formerly Denver's-own Apples in Stereo is good fun stuff. I bought this on the recommendation of a friend and wasn't sure what to expect and found that the fuzz-pop happiness on this album gives good music. Catchy lyrics and guitar hooks propel you through the fairly short 11 tracks and leave you wanting some more.

Spring Heel Jack - Masses

Tue, 04 Feb 2003 18:05:24 GMT

This album is a little TOO electronic for my taste, but its definately what the Blue Series is all about, melding the extremes of free jazz and electronica. There are two songs on the album that made it an immediatly gratifying purchase for me, Medusa's Head and Coda are two beautifully menacing pieces of music that are dark and chewy in a way non-electronic music has a hard time achieving. I suspect this album will grow on me significantly the more I listen to it. Definately a ground-breaking piece of work for the Blue Series.

Bobby Previte - Just Add Water

Mon, 03 Feb 2003 04:01:36 GMT

Just got this CD and I love it. Ray Anderson, Wayne Horvitz, and Bobby Previte - three of my favorite musicians - plus Marty Erlich and Steve Swallow rip it up. Ray Anderson takes the lead on most of the tracks, but special guest trombonist Joseph Bowie (younger brother of preeminent avant-garde jazz trumpeter Lester Bowie) steps in on a few tracks. Previte and Horvitz's multi-stylistic compositional skills are truly on display. If you're a fan of any of these musicians you'll enjoy this album immensely

Tony Williams Lifetime - Ego

Fri, 31 Jan 2003 22:26:24 GMT

Early Jazz-Rock fusion. Boston-native Tony Williams started playing with Miles Davis at age 17 and 7 years later had his own group, Lifetime, which was one of the early pioneering fusion groups. This album is definately their weirdest. Combining hard-bop and psychedelic rock it showcases Williams' amazing solo skills on a few tracks, and his unfortunately pedestrian vocal skills on others. Stick with the non-vocal tracks (which really aren't too horrible) and you'll enjoy the album a lot more.

John Zorn and John Medeski's "Emergency" project is a homage to Lifetime's groundbreaking second album, "Emergency", which was a pioneering fusion album.

Zorn, Frisell, Ribot, Sparks - Masada Guitars

Fri, 31 Jan 2003 21:33:15 GMT

The Masada songbook may be aging chronologically, especially considering John Zorn's typically shotgun approach to musical styles, but this album shows, once again, that the music will never get old. I'm a huge Bill Frisell fan, love Marc Ribot's guest-work with MMW and others (oddly enough I'm not so enthusiastic about his own stuff) and knew basically nothing about Tim Sparks, other than that Bill Frisell loved him and he had an album of jewish guitar works out on Tzadik, John Zorn's label.

Each track is a Masada song arranged and performed by one of the three guitarists. The performances on this CD are stellar and the recording top-notch. I can see this album quickly becoming one of my all-time favorites.

Sun Ra and his Myth Science Arkestra - Cosmic Tones for Mental Therapy and Art Forms of Dimensions Tomorrow

Mon, 27 Jan 2003 04:11:17 GMT

I don't have a whole lot to say about this album yet - actually two albums reissued on one CD - as I just received it yesterday, other than that I like it and it's made Sun Ra's influence on MMW extremely apparent. However, I wanted to note that it makes for VERY interesting accompaniment to the Super Bowl. I often enjoy watching sporting events with a musical soundtrack, since 9 times out of 10 the announcers aren't saying anything interesting anyhow, and I find the time better spent with some music going on. This proved especially true with this album and the Super Bowl. I'll have more to say about the music when I give it a closer listen later this week.

Incidentally, not that I'm a huge football fan, but congratulations to the Buccaneers for hopefully shutting up Bill Romanowski, and by extension the local Denver-area media who can't get over the fact he left the Bronco's for the Raiders. If nothing else, at least this means football is over. Bring on the All Star Game!

DJ Spooky - Optometry

Sun, 26 Jan 2003 22:56:32 GMT

"That Subliminal Kid" is DJ Spooky's tagline. This album makes it readily apparent why this is the case. DJ Spooky leads Matthew Shipp and friends down the Thirsty Ear "Blue Series" road exploring, in this case, the intersection between Spooky's brand of heady turntablism and Shipp and friends free jazz freaking. Also making an appearence is Billy Martin of MMW in the form of his breakbeats album, "illyB Eats Vol.1". Throw in some hip-hop-esque beat poetry and you have a really interesting album.

Sun, 26 Jan 2003 07:31:33 GMT

I've reworked my "Recent Listening/Watching" section because it was kind of boring. The entries on the sidebar now lead to some thoughts about albums and such. Sometimes they'll be blank, but they'll always at least include a link to somewhere for more information, and will usually include at the very least some useless blathering.

Two Loons for Tea

Fri, 24 Jan 2003 03:45:56 GMT

Two Loons for Tea is a guitar/vocal duo from Seattle. I never would have heard of them except for a mention on the Fredheads mailing list which mentioned the huge body of amazing Seattle-area musicians participating on the CD, including Brad Houser, Eyvind Kang, Dale Fanning, Jessica Lurie, Mike Dillon and the inimitable Skerik. The more I delve into the Seattle music scene, the more juicy nuggets I dig out. While Two Loons for Tea is most definately pretty straight ahead pop, the contributions of all these musicians is definately evident and it is a most entertaining album.

Incidently, I noticed that Jeff Bezos, the man behind Amazon.com was somehow involved in this album. A little research revealed that Jonathan Kochmer, the guitarist, was one of the first 10 employees at Amazon, developing a lot of the backend software that ran the early ecommerce pioneer. He was making music with Sarah Scott, the vocalist, when he was offered the job.

Charlie Parker - Yardbird Suite: The Ultimate Charlie Parker

Fri, 24 Jan 2003 03:22:56 GMT

This is the best Charlie Parker compilation I've heard. Rhino almost always does a good job with these and this is no exception hitting almost all the high points from his Savoy, Dial and Verve recordings and with liner notes as good as the music. If you're looking for somewhere to start with Bird, this is the place.

Pat Metheny Trio - Live

Thu, 23 Jan 2003 19:57:58 GMT

A great album. I first bought the Trio's 99->00 album and was so impressed with the lineup's chemistry that I had to pick this up as well. This may be Metheny's best trio - Pat on various Guitars, Larry Grenadier on bass and Bill Stewart on drums sound like they can read each other's minds. Every song is incredibly tight. This album, unlike 99->00 which was more straight hard-bop-esque jazz, touches on pretty much all of Metheny's stylistic incarnations, for better or worse. I tend to think better, because this is an incredible group of musicians that can make just about anything interesting.

Albert Ayler- Witches & Devils

Thu, 16 Jan 2003 23:28:29 GMT

Matthew Shipp - Nu Bop

Thu, 16 Jan 2003 22:09:35 GMT

Matthew Shipp's definitive work as curator/performer of Thirsty Ear's Blue Series. Combines free jazz with electronica/techno for a tasty mix

Keith Jarrett - La Scala

Thu, 16 Jan 2003 21:07:53 GMT

Possibly Jarret's greatest solo live album. A must-hear if you're a fan, but probably not the best place to start.

Pharoah Sanders - Pharoah's First

Wed, 15 Jan 2003 22:03:45 GMT

Sanders' first appearence as a band leader. A very conservative hard-swinging bebop sound, but you can hear Pharoah ready to go off, but he never quite gets there. In any case, an enjoyable album which just barely hints at what is to come. Another fine ESP-Disk' reissue by Calibre.

Thelonious Monk - Live At The It Club

Wed, 15 Jan 2003 04:36:13 GMT

A great 2 cd live set capturing Monk at the popular peak of his career.

Ray Anderson - Every One Of Us

Tue, 14 Jan 2003 00:08:21 GMT

Ray Anderson is a technically crazy trombonist. He's a master of multiphonics and has an amazingly flexible range. The music sometimes gets a little too silly, but the technique displayed almost always makes up for it.

Bim Skala Bim - Tuba City

Mon, 13 Jan 2003 20:35:58 GMT

A great 3rd generation ska album. Bim Skala Bim never really made it very big outside of the northeast, but they are without a doubt one of the greatest American ska bands ever and one of the parents of the Boston ska scene. When I lived in Boston (who knew Davis Square was hip?), I used to hit their shows every chance I got. They're still around, although its not really clear what their lineup currently consists of.

Bill Evans - From Left to Right

Tue, 17 Dec 2002 17:16:18 GMT

First few tracks a bit loungy. Rest of album nice and mellow.

Spanish Fly - Fly By Night

Fri, 13 Dec 2002 16:40:13 GMT

Need to check out Knit cd. Trumpet (is it his slide trumpet or a regular trumpet?), tuba, slide guitar and drums makes an interesting mix.