LEE KONITZ - Zo Ko Ma (1968-2008) RM | Series : Most Perfect Sound Edition | FLAC (tracks), lossless

Guitarist Attila Zoller, alto saxophonist Lee Konitz and trombonist Albert Mangelsdorff had played with one another on earlier occasions for over a decade, but this 1968 recording was their first together though Zo-Ko-Ma is officially billed by producer Joachim Ernst-Berendt as the "Attila Zoller-Lee Konitz Quartet with guest Albert Mangelsdorff." Joined by bassist Barre Phillips and drummer Stu Martin on some tracks, a good deal of the music has an experimental feeling to it, especially Konitz's "Feeling-In and Filling-In Villingen," which feature overlapping improvisations by the three players. Zoller's easygoing waltz "At Twighlite" and Mangelsdorff's "Alat's Mood" (the latter a trombone/guitar duet) are straight-ahead arrangements, while Konitz's haunting "Danke for the Memory" is a spacy trio piece with bass and guitar. Issued on LP by MPS in Europe, this extraordinary session is long overdue to be re-released on CD. Ken Dryden
Tracklist :
1     Zores Mores 5:42
Albert Mangelsdorff
2     Feeling-In and Filling-In in Villingen 4:10
Lee Konitz
3     Ach! Tavia /  Skertzo - Alicia's Lullaby 6:26
Lee Konitz
4     At Twighlite 5:54
Attila Zoller
5     Struwwelpeter 4:37
Attila Zoller
6     Alat's Mood 4:50
Albert Mangelsdorff
7     Freeline Fraulein 4:41
Lee Konitz
8     Danke for the Memory 4:02
Lee Konitz
9     Rumpelstilzchen 4:37
Attila Zoller
Credits :    
Alto Saxophone – Lee Konitz
Double Bass – Barre Phillips (tracks: 1, 4, 5, 9)
Drums – Stu Martin (tracks: 1, 4, 5, 9)
Guitar – Attila Zoller
Trombone – Albert Mangelsdorff

LEE KONITZ - From Newport to Nice (1992) FLAC (tracks+.cue), lossless

This compilation consists of live tracks from various sources, including festivals, television and radio broadcasts over a quarter century. While the playing of Konitz and his various band mates is first rate, the sound quality ranges from excellent to poor, probably due to the condition of the tapes and the fact that some of the songs likely come from audience tapes. Highlights include "All The Things You Are," heard in a swinging quintet that included guitarist Rene Thomas and pianist Misha Mengleberg; Lennie Tristano's "At Twilight," by a quartet that featured the late guitarist Atilla Zoller; and the lengthy but delightful second version of "Lover Man," in a quartet with Shelly Manne, Red Mitchell and Jimmy Rowles. Konitz fans should not let the sometimes dismal sound quality keep them from acquiring this excellent CD. Ken Dryden
Tracklist :
1     Two Not One 5:41
Lennie Tristano
2     My Melancholy Baby 3:09
Ernie Burnett / George Norton
3     I'm Getting Sentimental over You 3:38
George Bassman / Ned Washington
4     Easy Living 3:53
Ralph Rainger / Leo Robin
5     Some of These Days 4:14
Shelton Brooks
6     Lover Man 4:19
Jimmy Davis / Roger "Ram" Ramirez / Jimmy Sherman
7     Will You Still Be Mine? 4:05
Tom Adair / Matt Dennis
8     'Round Midnight 5:10
Bernie Hanighen / Thelonious Monk / Cootie Williams
9     All the Things You Are 9:20
Oscar Hammerstein II / Jerome Kern
10     317 East 32nd Street 6:17
Lennie Tristano
11     At Twilight 7:59
Maceo Pinkard
12     Lover Man 10:05
Jimmy Davis / Roger "Ram" Ramirez / Jimmy Sherman
13     Body and Soul 5:54
Frank Eyton / Johnny Green / Edward Heyman / Robert Sour
Credits :
Alto Saxophone – Lee Konitz
Contrabass – Barre Phillips (pistas: 10, 11), Bob Carter (pistas: 1), Frank Carroll (pistas: 2), Henry Grimes (pistas: 5 to 7), Johnny Fischer (pistas: 3, 4), Red Mitchell (pistas: 12), Rob Langereis (pistas: 8, 9)
Drums – Buzzy Drootin (pistas: 1), Don Lamond (pistas: 2), Ed Levinson (pistas: 5 to 7), Han Bennink (pistas: 8, 9), Rudi Sehring (pistas: 3), Shelly Manne (pistas: 12), Stu Martin (pistas: 10, 11)
Guitar – Attila Zoller (pistas: 10, 11), Jimmy Raney (pistas: 13), Johnny Smith (pistas: 2), René Thomas (pistas: 8, 9)
Piano – Jimmy Rowles (pistas: 12), Misha Mengelberg (pistas: 8, 9), Roland Kovac (pistas: 3), Russ Freeman (pistas: 1)
Tenor Saxophone – Warne Marsh (pistas: 1)

PAUL BLEY | EVAN PARKER | BARRE PHILLIPS — Time Will Tell (1995) FLAC (image+.cue), lossless

This CD contains a series of mostly thoughtful free improvisations featuring three of the giants of the idiom: pianist Paul Bley, Evan Parker (doubling on tenor and soprano) and bassist Barre Phillips. Surprisingly enough, Bley and Parker had never played together before (although Phillips had performed often with both musicians), but they communicate very well including on the lengthy "Poetic Justice," their initial meeting. Nothing was preplanned for the set, and in general, it is very much a Paul Bley session. The emphasis is on free ballads and mood pieces with Parker sounding somewhat restrained. He actually cuts loose much more on his two duets with Phillips than he does on the trios. Although the results overall are not classic, the music never fails to hold on to one's interest as the three musicians continually think and evolve together. Scott Yanow
Tracklist :
1    Poetic Justice 17:18
Written-By – Phillips, Parker, Bley
2    Time Will Tell 4:25
Written-By – Phillips, Parker, Bley
3    Above The Tree Line 4:48
Written-By – Phillips, Parker, Bley
4    You Will, Oscar, You Will 4:55
Written-By – Phillips, Bley
5    Sprung 5:17
Written-By – Phillips, Parker, Bley
6    No Questions 5:29
Written-By – Phillips, Parker, Bley
7    Vine Laces 4:02
Written-By – Phillips, Parker
8    Clawback 3:12
Written-By – Parker, Bley
9    Marsh Tides 5:41
Written-By – Phillips, Parker, Bley
10    Instance 4:24
Written-By – Phillips, Parker
11    Burlesque 7:15
Written-By – Phillips, Parker, Bley
Credits :
Double Bass – Barre Phillips
Piano – Paul Bley
Tenor Saxophone, Soprano Saxophone – Evan Parker

PAUL BLEY | EVAN PARKER | BARRE PHILLIPS - Sankt Gerold (2000) FLAC (tracks+.cue), lossless

When pianist Paul Bley, saxophonist Evan Parker, and bassist Barre Phillips were first called together for a session by ECM in 1994, the results were startling to most critics who felt that Parker and Bley were two such dominating personalities that it would be difficult to put them together in such an intimate setting. They weren't counting on the fact that Phillips had worked with both men many times, and despite his own tendencies for the free-flying climes shared by Parker, he possessed an inherent lyricism that when called upon would flow from its source. Indeed, on that date, while Parker and Phillips edged Bley out on ledges he'd not looked over often in the past, he drew them toward the spiritual, intimate center of a lyricism neither had even imagined, let alone explored. All things balanced so well that the trio has become a semi-regular touring band ever since. This date is part of a live concert recorded in the Sankt Gerold Monastery in the Austrian mountains. In addition to deft, insightful, and breathtaking group improvisation, several solo interludes hold as much sway and magic as what the trio accomplish together. The first of the two "Variations" are group pieces. Bley introduces -- perhaps because of the locale -- his interest and depth of knowledge in serial music during the improvisation with Parker playing a modal counterpoint. The mood is relaxed, but the music flows quickly and freely. Melodic ideas and rumbles are put forth by Bley and transmuted into something wholly other by Parker with Phillips acting as a bridge for this seemingly uneasy yet effortless alliance. Deep listening combined with restraint are the keys to this music -- making this band accomplishs. Their combined knowledge of modal and free practice along with Bley's penchant for dynamic and dramatic interplay provide for a foundation of graceful and forceful surprise and challenging listening -- for the musicians, not the audience members. Tonalities are exchanged at a relaxed pace though they turn on a dime and become microtones just as quickly. In the solo pieces, Phillips is first with a gorgeous arco-solo that expresses an interest in improvisation by sustained interval. Parker has three such opportunities, the first of which occurs on "Variation Four," and is a short but explosive microtone study on B flat where skeins of notes are whisked through the horn via circular breathing. Bley's solos are variations on bebop via the Second Viennese school and an open study of closed space with augmented ninths and even twelfths as the spare counterparts to triads in the upper register. But these solo interludes are merely breathing spaces for the constancy of the trio's meta-linguistic interaction. What is so interesting in the manner in which these play together is how they make music about making music. Each player points in the direction of the others with one idea that he knows will open the berth for that idea to be deconstructed musically and from it emerge a new architecture of tone, sound, texture, and color. By concert's end, all one is left with is the desire to hear the show as it happened, as one Sankt Gerold, without variation or interruption. Next to that, this cannot be improved upon. This performance is a watermark in the careers of all three participants and an essential document for the fans of any single member as well as the evolution of the improvising jazz trio. -> This comment is posted on Allmusic by Thom Jurek, follower of our blog 'O Púbis da Rosa' <-
Tracklist :
Variation 1     10:18
Phillips, Parker, Bley
Variation 2     7:12
Phillips, Parker, Bley
Variation 3     2:56
Phillips
Variation 4     1:59
Parker
Variation 5     6:20
Phillips, Parker, Bley
Variation 6     3:56
Bley
Variation 7     7:13
Phillips
Variation 8     8:14
Phillips, Parker, Bley
Variation 9     7:03
Bley
Variation 10     5:22
Parker
Variation 11     4:49
Phillips, Parker, Bley
Variation 12     1:29
Parker
Credits :
Double Bass – Barre Phillips
Piano – Paul Bley
Producer – Manfred Eicher, Steve Lake
Soprano Saxophone, Tenor Saxophone – Evan Parker

BARRY GUY | ANTHONY BRAXTON & THE LONDON JAZZ COMPOSER'S ORCHESTRA — Zurich Concerts (1988-1995) 2CD | FLAC (tracks), lossless

This double-CD outing of Barry Guy's London Jazz Composers' Orchestra features two compositions, one by Guy, which takes up disc one -- he also conducts and plays bass on it. The other disc is taken up with four works by Anthony Braxton with sundry others from his book augmenting them, as is his wont. Braxton directs but does not play on his own pieces. First up is the nearly 40-minute work by Guy, beginning with Steve Wick's tuba calling out a melodic frame for the rest of the band -- which includes but is not limited to Evan Parker, Trevor Watts, Phil Wachsman, Barre Phillips, Dave Holland, Paul Lytton, Tony Oxley, Radu Malfatti, Jon Corbett, and Paul Dunmall. There are 19 players in all. What is most notable about Guy's "Polyhymnia" is its insistence on the ostinato and elongation of tonal sequences that often move far beyond the duration of modes and intervals. These tonal sequences can be comprised of any number of instruments at a given time, and are charted only to follow the director's feeling for dynamic and duration. Their dramatalurgical and linguistic individuations are free for the manipulation by the given player. There are certainly crescendos over this long stretch, but more importantly there are silences that equate one instrument with another tonally -- especially microtonally -- rather than pit them against each other. Give a listen to the way the basses engage the tuba and the violin in intricate patterns of exchange and elucidation and you'll get the heart of the entire piece. And it has considerable heart. On Braxton's works, dynamic and drama are the order of the day. As is usual with a large group, he begins very quietly, establishing the tonal color palette at his disposal, and for the edification of the audience. He moves through the band in sections, directing them to utterance in small, parsed phrases before opening up the entire orchestra to a wellspring of sonic inquiry. The questioning happens on the level of linguistic possibility: How much can a group of instruments speak in unified freedom to one another without falling off into the abyss of ego and riffing? For nearly an hour, Braxton examines inside and outside the context of group interplay, how micro and polytonal universes examine and explain one another in the context of a musician's attack and phrasing as well as his improvisational ideas. In this sense, this is among Braxton's most fascinating larger-ensemble works, and will hopefully be one of his most enduring. Indeed, the attendees at these Zurich concerts were treated to the most intimate and prophetic of expressions in these two evenings. They were also given evidence of the very ground on which free improvisation and new composition stand linked to one another.
-> This comment is posted on Allmusic by Thom Jurek, follower of our blog 'O Púbis da Rosa' <-
Tracklist :
1-1    Polyhymnia 37:30
Composed By, Directed By [Director] – Barry Guy
2-1    Compositions 135 (+41,63,96), 136 (+96), 108B (+86,96),135 (+96) 56:47
Composed By, Directed By [Director] – Anthony Braxton
Credits :
Bass – Barre Phillips (pistas: 1-1), Barry Guy, Dave Holland (pistas: 2-1)
Cornet – Marc Charig
Drums – Paul Lytton, Tony Oxley (pistas: 2-1)
Piano – Howard Riley
Reeds – Evan Parker, Paul Dunmall, Peter McPhail, Simon Picard, Trevor Watts
Trombone – Alan Tomlinson, Paul Rutherford, Radu Malfatti
Trumpet – Henry Lowther, Jon Corbett
Tuba – Steve Wick
Violin, Electronics – Phil Wachsmann

HOWARD SHORE | ORNETTE COLEMAN - Naked Lunch [Music from the Original Soundtrack] (1992) FLAC (tracks+.cue), lossless

You couldn't do much better for a soundtrack to David Cronenberg's adaptation of William S. Burroughs' beat classic than have Ornette Coleman team up with Howard Shore, a film composer who keeps within the strictures of classic film score ideals and colorations, but explores them with the intelligence of Bernard Herrmann. Coleman's free jazz complements the schizophrenia of the film and pays homage to the generation that preceded (and gave birth to) him, while Shore maintains the melancholic dread that powers most Cronenberg films. Like the film -- where the Algiers of the story might only be Bill Lee's imagination -- Shore uses Arabian elements sparingly, and in the context of the cool New York sound. Wondrous strange. Ted Mills
Tracklist :
1     Naked Lunch 2'28
Howard Shore
2     Hauser and O'Brien/Bugpowder 2'39
Ornette Coleman / Howard Shore
3     Mugwumps 2'54
Howard Shore
4     Centipede 2'05
Howard Shore
5     The Black Meat 1'25
Howard Shore    
6     Simpatico / Misterioso 1'34
Thelonious Monk / Howard Shore
7     Fadela's Coven 3'33
Howard Shore     
8     Interzone Suite 5'13
Howard Shore
9     William Tell 1'44
Howard Shore
10     Mujahaddin 1'57
Howard Shore
11     Intersong 3'47
Ornette Coleman / Howard Shore    
12     Dr. Benway 3'14
Howard Shore
13     Clark Nova Dies 2'06
Howard Shore    
14     Ballad / Joan 2'39
Ornette Coleman / Howard Shore
15     Cloquet's Parrots / Midnight Sunrise 1'45
Ornette Coleman / London Philharmonic Orchestra / Howard Shore    
16     Nothing Is True; Everything Is Permitted 1'56
Howard Shore    
17     Welcome to Annexia 3'35
Howard Shore
18     Writeman 3'52
Ornette Coleman / Howard Shore
Credits :
Bass – Barre Phillips
Drums – Denardo Coleman
Featuring – The London Philharmonic Orchestra
Ney [Nai] – Aziz Bin Salem
Orchestrated By – Homer Denison
Producer, Conductor – Howard Shore
Saxophone – Ornette Coleman
Sintir – JJ Edwards

ARCHIE SHEPP - The Impulse Story (2007) FLAC (image+.cue), lossless

Archie Shepp's volume in The Impulse Story series, with liner notes by Ashley Kahn, author of The House That Trane Built: The Impulse Story, is arguably the best and most representative of any of the editions in it. These ten cuts capture Shepp's many faces. There's his wonderful look inside the music of his mentor John Coltrane ("Naima" from Four for Trane), through to his gaze at the jazz tradition (Duke Ellington's "Sophisticated Lady"), to bossa nova (a very unique read of "Girl from Ipanema") to the weighty concerns of his own compositions that engaged everything from the avant-garde "Les Matin des Noires" to politics ("Malcolm Malcolm -- Semper Malcolm"), to R&B and soul ("Damn If I Know" "Mama Too Tight," and "Attica Blues"). While certain albums are not represented here -- the magnificent Magic of Ju-Ju being one -- the breadth and depth of Shepp's true genius is all here. That said, it is a shame that many of his albums recorded for Impulse (the classic Fire Music and Magic of Ju-Ju just to name two) are currently out of print. Of all the volumes in this fine collection, Shepp's stands, with Alice Coltrane's as the very best in that it gives a true introduction to an artist often misunderstood, but during his tenure for this label, he was creatively unstoppable.
-> This comment is posted on Allmusic by Thom Jurek, follower of our blog 'O Púbis da Rosa' <-
Tracklist :
1     Naima 7'10
(John Coltrane)
Bass – Reggie Workman
Drums – Charles Moffett
Flugelhorn – Alan Shorter
Producer – John Coltrane
Trombone – Roswell Rudd
2     Los Olvidados 8'56
(Archie Shepp)
Alto Saxophone – Marion Brown
Bass – Reggie Johnson
Drums – Joe Chambers
Trumpet – Ted Curson
3     The Girl from Ipanema 8'35
(Norman Gimbel / Antônio Carlos Jobim / Vinícius de Moraes)
Alto Saxophone – Marion Brown
Bass – Reggie Johnson
Drums – Joe Chambers
Trumpet – Ted Curson
4     Malcolm, Malcolm - Semper Malcolm 4'51
(Archie Shepp)
Bass – David Izenzon
Drums – J.C. Moses
Vocals [Recitation] – Archie Shepp
5     Le Matin des Noires 8'00
(Archie Shepp)
Bass – Barre Phillips
Drums – Joe Chambers
Vibraphone – Bobby Hutcherson     
6     Scag 3'23
(Archie Shepp)
Bass – Barre Phillips
Drums – Joe Chambers
Vibraphone – Bobby Hutcherson
Vocals [Recitation] – Archie Shepp
7     Mama Too Tight 5'25
(Archie Shepp)
Bass – Charlie Haden
Clarinet – Perry Robinson
Drums – Beaver Harris
Trombone – Grachan Moncur III, Roswell Rudd
Trumpet – Tommy Turrentine
Tuba – Howard Johnson
8     Damn If I Know (The Stroller) 6'19
(Walter Davis, Jr.)
Bass – Ron Carter
Drums – Beaver Harris
Trombone – Grachan Moncur III
Trumpet – Jimmy Owens
9     Sophisticated Lady 7'10
(Duke Ellington / Irving Mills / Mitchell Parish)
Bass – Ron Carter
Drums – Roy Haynes
Trombone – Grachan Moncur III
Trumpet – Jimmy Owen
10     Attica Blues 4'47
(Beaver Harris / Archie Shepp)
Alto Saxophone – Clarence White, Marion Brown
Backing Vocals – Albertine Robinson, Joshie Armstead
Baritone Saxophone – James Ware
Bass [Fender] – Jerry Jemmott, Roland Wilson
Cello – Calo Scott, Ronald Lipscomb
Cornet – Clifford Thornton
Drums – Beaver Harris
Guitar – Cornell Dupree
Lead Vocals – Henry Hull
Percussion – Juma Sutan*, Nene DeFense, Ollie Anderson
Producer – Ed Michel
Tenor Saxophone – Roland Alexander
Trombone – Charles Greenlee, Charles Stephens, Kiane Zawadi
Trumpet – Charles McGhee, Michael Ridley
Tuba – Hakim Jami
Violin – John Blake, Leroy Jenkins, Shankar

ARCHIE SHEPP — Further Fire Music (1978) 2 x Vinyl, LP | The Dedication Series – Vol. XVII | FLAC (tracks), lossless

Tracklist :
A1        The Chased (Take 1)    11:47
A2        The Chased (Take 2)    6:11
B1        The Chased (Take 3)    5:15
B2        The Pickaninny    7:20
B3        Malcolm, Malcolm Semper Malcolm 4:40
Vocals [Recitation] – Archie Shepp
C1        Rufus (Swung His Face At Last To The Wind, Then His Neck Snapped)    4:58
C2        Le Matin De Noire    7:39
C3        Scag 3:04
Vocals [Recitation] – Archie Shepp
C4        Call Me By My Rightful Name    6:19
D1        Gingerbread, Gingerbread Boy    10:15
D2        The Mac Man (Alternate Take) 9:30
Bass – Henry Grimes
Drums – Ed Blackwell, Rashied Ali
Credits
Bass – Barre Phillips (pistas: C1 to D1), David Izenzon (pistas: A1 to B3)
Drums – J. C. Moses (pistas: A1 to B3), Joe Chambers (pistas: C1 to D1)
Engineer – Rudy Van Gelder
Tenor Saxophone, Written-By – Archie Shepp
Vibraphone – Bobby Hutcherson (pistas: C1 to D2)
Notas.
All selections previously released on various ABC Impulse albums, except Side A and D-2 which are previously unreleased alternate takes.
A, B recorded at Van Gelder Studios, Englewood Cliffs, New Jersey on March 9, 1965
C & D1 recorded live at The Newport Jazz Festival, Newport, Rhode Island on July 2, 1965
D2 recorded at Van Gelder Studios, Englewood Cliffs, New Jersey on August 12, 1965

JOHN SURMAN — How Many Clouds Can You See? (1970-1998) RM | FLAC (image+.cue), lossless

 John Surman's second album remains his most impressive, anticipating the sound and scope of the European free jazz movement that would blossom in the decade to come -- boasting an extraordinary roster highlighted by trumpeter Harry Beckett, tenorist Alan Skidmore and bassist Barre Phillips, How Many Clouds Can You See? captures a singular moment in the evolution of British jazz, forging a new and distinct sound with few musical antecedents. Surman is a force of nature here, wielding his baritone, soprano and bass clarinet as if they were weapons -- no less impressive is his control, however, and no matter how far How Many Clouds Can You See? may travel, the music never lapses into self-indulgence or swallows its own tail. Jason Ankeny

Tracklist :
1 Galata Bridge  15:01
Alto Saxophone – Mike Osborne
Baritone Saxophone – John Surman
Bass – Harry Miller
Drums – Alan Jackson
Tenor Saxophone – Alan Skidmore
Trombone – Malcolm Griffiths
Trumpet, Flugelhorn – Harold Beckett
2 Caractacus  4:19
Baritone Saxophone – John Surman
Drums – Alan Jackson
3 Premonition  4:27
Alto Saxophone – Mike Osborne
Baritone Saxophone, Flute – John Warren
Soprano Saxophone – John Surman
Tenor Saxophone, Flute – Alan Skidmore
Trombone – Chris Pyne, Malcolm Griffiths
Trumpet – Dave Holdsworth, Harold Beckett
Tuba – George Smith
Written-By – Warren
4   Event (18:42)
4a Gathering
4b Ritual
4c Circle Dance
5 How Many Clouds Can You See? 3:25
Credits
Baritone, Soprano Saxophone, Bass Clarinet – John Surman (tracks: 4, 5)
Bass – Barre Phillips (tracks: 3 to 5)
Drums – Tony Oxley (tracks: 3 to 5)
Piano – John Taylor (tracks: 1, 3 to 5)
Written-By – Surman (tracks: 1, 2, 4, 5)