Here in California there's a peculiar strain that affects certain bloggers with periodic bouts of "Amoeba Runs." Symptoms often include multiple indentations on the forearm from carrying around plastic CD holder cases around the open pit of rabid CD collectors and a state of delirium from the anticipated hours of sonic rewards. This past weekend HurdAudio took to Hollywood for a long overdue case of the Amoeba Runs.Eric Dolphy (with Booker Little): Far Cry
One of the last recordings for both Dolphy and Little before they were taken from this life. I've already given this one more than a few spins. Great group: Eric Dolphy - alto saxophone, bass clarinet, flute, Booker Little - trumpet, Jaki Byard - piano, Ron Carter - bass, Roy Haynes - drums. The first two tracks are Byard compositions that intrigue me: "Mrs. Parker of K.C. (Bird's Mother)" and "Ode to Charlie Parker." I look forward to giving this one plenty of ear time.Then I hit the Wayne Horvitz bin and had a chance to catch up with some of his recent work.
Wayne Horvitz: Film Music 1998 - 2001I gave this one a casual listen today. There's some beautiful work on this one. All of it very brief. Some of the beauty seems amplified by the brevity. Sometimes the shortness cheats one of the chance to dwell in some of these sonic textures. I'll need to give it a more focused listening.
Robin Holcomb/Wayne Horvitz: Solos
Solo piano pieces performed alternately by this couple. After just one casual listening I was struck by the Wayne Horvitz performance of "Armageddon" by Wayne Shorter and the fantastic "Before the Comet Comes" composed and performed by Robin Holcomb.
Wayne Horvitz/The Four Plus One Ensemble: From A WindowThis is such an interesting group of players. Their first disc was incredible and I really can't explain why I didn't get this disc much earlier.
Wayne Horvitz/Pigpen: Halfrack
The inaugural Pigpen release. Now my Pigpen collection is complete. This was a group with great chemistry and smart compositions.
Wayne Horvitz/Zony Mash: Farewell Shows - Seattle, WAThe end of the Zony Mash era was reason enough to leave Seattle. Well... just kidding. But I was there for the entire Zony Mash period and this band meant a great deal to me.
Wayne Horvitz: Sweeter Than The Day - Live at the Rendezvous, Seattle 2004This is essentially an acoustic version of Zony Mash. The studio CD of Sweeter Than The Day is a real gem in its own right. But these guys were something special live.
Guy Klucevsek and the Bantam Orchestra: Stolen MemoriesKlucevsek on accordion, two of the Parkins sisters on strings (Sara Parkins - violin, Margaret Parkins - cello) and Achim Tang on bass. Yeah!
Lee Konitz Quintet: Peacemeal
I borrowed this one on vinyl a long time ago and it became one of my all time favorites. It only came out on CD a couple of years ago and I've kept an eye out for this one. The extensive Lee Konitz catalogue is huge and rich with great music and this one is something special. Lee Konitz - alto, tenor and Multivider saxophones, Marshall Brown - valve trombone, baritone horn, Dick Katz - acoustic and electric piano, Eddie Gomez - bass, Jack DeJohnette - Drums. Recorded March 20, 1969. Here Lee Konitz records some beautiful arrangements of pieces from the Bela Bartok Mikrokosmos that swing.
Bob Marley & The Wailers: Natty DreadI've been diggin' the "cover" of this album that Charlie Hunter did for the Blue Note label and decided to visit the original inspiration.
Myra Melford/The Tent: Where The Two Worlds TouchThis is another one I've been meaning to pick up for a long time. Myra Melford is an amazing pianist and her compositional ideas have evolved in some interesting directions over the years.
Mephista: Black NarcissusA trio of three of the "downtown" NYC improv scene's finest musicians: Sylvie Courvoisier - piano, Susie Ibarra - drums/percussion, Ikue Mori - computer.
John Zorn: Masada GuitarsSolo guitar interpretations from the Masada Songbook performed by Bill Frisell, Marc Ribot and Tim Sparks.
Now that's a good Amoeba run that should hold my ears for some time.
1 comment:
I'm desperately searching for "Farewell Shows - Seattle, WA" but couldn't find it anywhere, and since there's no way of ordering CD's over the internet in Serbia, can you help me with this? tnx....
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