Strictly Jazz Sounds (Part 3)


50th anniversary of Agharta. This is really heavy music.

This is a BluSpec cd2 release, sounds very good. I’m wondering if the there is a more recent release that sounds even better….

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It happened to be handy, and having not listened to it for sometime I thought, why not? An excellent double LP, with a nice blend of avant-garde jazz and indie rock sensibilities; In a second Before is a good example of this blend of styles. Seems we deserve more from this quintet featuring Mary Halvorson, Ambrose Akinmusire, Amirtha Kidambi, Michael Formanek, and Tomas Fujiwara.

I’ve enjoyed everything he has released on his own, and he is a member of Steve Coleman’s band.

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There is another Blu-Spec CD2 released 2023 that uses the same mastering as far as I can tell and sounds pretty similar. There are I think three different masterings of this material with subtle differences. To me it always sounds great vinyl or cd.

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Time sure does fly by, 50 years, never would have thought it had been that long. Now I feel old. Arrgh~!
I’ll pull my original LP and give it a listen.

This one left me cold.

I don’t like Amirtha Kidambi’s vocalizations. I guess I’ve got Halvorson pigeon-holed as a guitarist/composer not a song writer. I will have to give it another try sometime.

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Personally good with both of them. I like how each bends notes. Having heard Mary Halvorson multiple times with Tomeka Reid, most enjoyable.

Stereophile has an article describing 2 completely different Sun Ra records that have the same name! Actually one of them is by the current Arkestra….

https://www.stereophile.com/content/sun-ra-times-two

Lights on a Satellite: Live at the Left Bank is a Keeper. The current version of the Arkestra led by Marshall Allen is pale in comparison. Lights on a Satellite on the German IN + Out label is a hard pass. Just my opinion.

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The Tandoori Yokoo cover is another knockout image. In the 70s he designed many posters for the prevailing groups of the day: Beatles; Emerson, Lake & Palmer; and Earth, Wind & Fire come to mind, as well as a Santana album cover (can’t remember the name.

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Nice set recorded in 2012.

Jeff Parker - guitars
Chris Lopes - bass
Chad Taylor - drums

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A more recent effort from John Butcher, John Butcher + 13 Fluid Fixations,the title implying locking down the music while simultaneously providin for a sense of freedom. John’s interpretation of improvisation coexisting with the written form providing guidance for te musicians. Not unlike Anthony Braxtons approach. Where general musical concepts are notated allowing for the musicians to improvise collectively about them. The longer pieces allowing for this concept to be realized in my opinion, Oyashio and At Risk of Enchantment stand in this regard.

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50th anniversary of Pangea, I believe this was the evening set, Agharta was recorded in the afternoon at Osaka Festival Hall.

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Akira Sakata & Chikamorachi Live at Hungry Brain a 2011 live date from Chicago’s Hungry Brain, Japanese alto saxophonoist is joined by drummer Chris Corsano and bassist Darin Gray.


Catherine Sikora Susan Alcorn Filament, tenor saxophonist Catherine Sikora and the late pedal steel guitarist Susan Alcorn tend to meander and search on Filament i. The pair coalesce on the strongest offering here, Filament ii. A similar instrumental pair, offering more vigor, with Peter Brotzmann and Heather Leigh on Sparrow Nights.

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Ellery Eskelin’s Mirage is a better fit for me with Michael Formanek and Susan Alcorn, where Susan’s pedal steel work fits in nicely with Ellery’s sax, and considerably more gravitas with Micheal’s presence.

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Enjoying this particular set. It seems like one to add to the physical media (Vinyl or cd).

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The Complete Last Concert is where I started with MJQ and vibes in general. Then branched out into more MJQ. You may enjoy Lonely Woman as well.

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Press releases about three upcoming RSD LP issues and cd releases a week later.

From a press release for the Freddie Hubbard:

On the newly unearthed collection On Fire: Live from the Blue Morocco , legendary trumpeter Freddie Hubbard is heard at his ferocious peak. This unissued 1967 performance, recorded at Sylvia Robinson’s Bronx Club with an all-star band featuring Bennie Maupin, Kenny Barron, Herbie Lewis and Freddie Waits, is due from Resonance Records as a limited edition 3-LP set on Record Store Day, April 12, 2025, with the CD edition to follow on April 18.

This recording is insane! It’s one of the most exciting live documents I’ve ever heard in my life,” says renowned trumpeter Steven Bernstein. "It’s f!cking mind-blowing. Freddie’s on fire. It’s just so damn good.”

The package includes new interviews with Maupin and Barron, notes by jazz authority John Koenig, appreciations and Interviews with Charles Tolliver, Eddie Henderson, Steven Bernstein, Jeremy Pelt and more.

From a press release for the Kenny Dorham:

I’m honored to be working with Resonance records and producer Zev Feldman on a never-before-heard live recording from master hard bop trumpeter Kenny Dorham. Out as a 2-LP set for Record Store Day, April 12, 2025 and on CD April 18, the storming all-star club date Blue Bossa in the Bronx: Live from the Blue Morocco features Dorham with alto saxophonist Sonny Red, pianist Cedar Walton, bassist Paul Chambers, and drummer Denis Charles.

The package features liner notes by two-time Grammy winner Bob Blumenthal; a Dorham appreciation by Dan Morgenstern, the late director of Rutgers University’s Institute of Jazz Studies and National Endowment for the Arts Jazz Master; remembrances from trumpeters Eddie Henderson, Charles Tolliver, Steven Bernstein, and Jeremy Pelt; and more. It was recorded by Bernard Drayton in 1967 at the titular New York venue.

From a press release for the Mingus:

I, for one, can’t ever get enough Mingus and I’m excited to be working with Resonance Records on In Argentina: The Buenos Aires Concerts , a brilliant 3-LP live recording of Charles Mingus’ little-heard late-70s working quintet.

The album – featuring Mingus with trumpeter Jack Walrath, tenor saxophonist Ricky Ford, pianist Robert Neloms and drummer Dannie Richmond – will be out April 12, 2025 as a limited edition three-LP Record Store Day exclusive, followed by a two-CD set on April 18.

Recorded in concert at the Teatro Coliseo and the Teatro Sociedad Hebraica Argentina (SHA) on June 2-3, 1977, the first authorized release of these dates comes with an expansive package including notes from Mingus biographer Brian Priestley, reflections of the concerts from Argentinian writer Claudio Parisi, new interviews with band members Jack Walrath and Ricky Ford and more.

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Thanks for the recommendation!