noah howard - the black ark

Track listing:
1. Domiabra
2. Ole Negro
3. Mount Fuji
4. Queen Anne.

Personnel: Noah Howard: alto saxophone; Arthur Doyle: tenor saxophone; Earl Cross: trumpet; Leslie Waldron: piano; Norris Jones: bass; Muhammad Ali: drums; Juma: congas.
download the black ark by noah howard here

The following text was copy/pasted from allaboutjazz.com:

Noah Howard - The Black Ark

By Chris May

Like "rarely performed" operas, "hard to find" recordings are often obscure for a prosaic reason: they're no good. Here's a monumental exception to the rule. The Black Ark—released in small numbers on the Freedom label in 1969, out of print almost overnight, and a holy grail for collectors practically ever since—is forty minutes of passionate and thrilling music, new-thing free jazz as great as practically any that came out of the late 1960s without saxophonist John Coltrane's name on it.

Seventeen years younger than Coltrane, alto saxophonist Noah Howard arrived in New York in 1965, aged 22. He formed a quartet, made a couple of albums for ESP, and—before moving to Europe in 1970—put together the septet which made The Black Ark. By 1969, Howard was terrifyingly good: as a player, composer and bandleader.

The four originals which make up The Black Ark—a mutant blues, a free jive samba, a cod-Japanese "ying-tong" melody and a wonderfully lyrical ballad—are catchy and hummable, at a time when most free jazz rejected tunes and structures (or was too untutored to create them). Howard brings a similar degree of form to his band: theme statements bookend each track, solos are taken individually ("Mount Fuji" contains the only section of extended collective improvisation), and the length of each player's solo is precisely pre-determined, with Howard taking the longest spots.

As an alto player, Howard is often tagged with Ornette Coleman. In fact, he sounds more like a tenor saxophonist, bringing to his smaller instrument much of the tenor's weight and booting force. He's a hefty player. The closest contemporary comparison is perhaps with tenor saxophonist Pharoah Sanders, another musician balancing ferocity with trippy melodicism, to their mutual advantage.

For unrelenting screaming banshee saxophone, the septet includes tenor player Arthur Doyle. As the original album's liner notes have it, in words that can't be bettered, Doyle is "propelled throughout by an almost incoherent rage, a chaotic and murderous sound." Howard's deft trick as leader is to keep Doyle's eruptions strictly time-constrained—a couple of choruses of sonic excess per solo, and out. Trumpeter Earl Cross, another furiously intense soloist, though a less tonally monolithic one, is similarly under manners. The result: neither player outstays his welcome and you don't have to be a smack head to enjoy them.

The rest of the band is a blast too, particularly the agile, powerhouse bassist Norris Jones and drummer Muhammad Ali (the younger brother of Coltrane's post-Elvin Jones drummer Rashied). Jimi Hendrix's Woodstock conga player, Juma, doesn't just add color, but working with Ali brings real propulsion to the music (the duo's interaction on "Mount Fuji" is a delight).

Almost forty years after its original release, undimmed by familiarity, this reissue is like a really, really late, really, really exciting birthday present.

baul musicians from india

anthony braxton - the complete arista recordings

anthony braxton's arista albums are long out of print. they are, however, for the record collector, not all that hard to find; and more often than not, not too expensive. but over the years i have watched the prices of these albums go up. every time i come across one of these albums i buy it. i have quite a few of them. and there are a lot. and they are all really really good.

mosaic records put out the whole catalog. oh-m-g.

here's a link to a magical place where you can download the box set.

charles gayle, william parker, rashied ali - touchin' on trane

the first time i heard this album was the first time i heard charles gayle. i checked it out from the eugene public library when i was about 19. i actually kept it till it was way overdue. back in those days i didn't have access to cd burning so i dubbed it to tape. when the tape wore out, i tried to buy an actual copy for myself - only to find that it had gone out of print and was now selling for 30$ or 40$ online. i would totally pay that much for a vinyl copy...but for a cd? anyway, its since been reissued, in all of its amazing 5 part glory. this is truly an amazing, beautiful recording. high energy, soulful, and free.

here's a little snippet from the label that has reissued "touchin' on trane"

"This is Charles Gayle’s most accessible work. Gayle’s mastery of free jazz is blended with a more traditional compositional style of jazz on this disc. Touchin’ on Trane is composed of five original songs, and even includes ex-Coltrane drummer Rashied Ali. As the title insists, Coltrane is the influence for the music on this disc. The influence ranges from the upbeat tempo of “Giant Steps” in “Part A,” while “Part D” is reminiscent of Coltrane’s “Live in Japan” performances. Gayle, bassist William Parker, and Ali don’t copy Coltrane, but rather expand on his accomplishments. Without covering any songs, Touchin’ on Trane is the greatest John Coltrane tribute album."

i wouldn't really say that this is gayles most "accessible" work. in fact, i would say that this album definitely not gayles most accessible work. and one thing is for sure, if we are going to compare this album to other forms of jazz, or let alone, other forms of music, that are considered accessible, than i would definitely have to say that this album is definitely not accessible.

this album does however manage to touch on the sound of john coltrane's later recordings - hence the title - a sound that is rarely attempted and/or accomplished.

touchin' on trane
charles gayle, tenor sax
william parker, bass
rashied ali, drums

originally released in 1991 on FMP

check out "touchin' on trane" here

here is a clip of gayle, parker, and ali in 2007:

william parker - petit oiseau

william parker - bass
hamid drake - drums
rob brown - alto sax
lewis barnes - trumpet

one of the most exciting jazz quartets working today. this album is amazing!

download wparker4poiseau.zip

ida presti

i spent a whole summer learning this song. i never got it completely right, though i came close.

i first heard this song during one of my stays at the winberry timber sale in oregon, where i was part of a direct action campaign to stop the logging of the old growth trees there. one hot summer weekend i brought my room mate out to the sale. we climbed up into the tree sits, chatted with my friends that were living in the trees at the time, and ate dinner 150' off the ground on a platform that hung in a tree named life. after dinner he grabbed my guitar and played this song. i had no idea at the time he could even play guitar. he did pretty well, considering he was playing a childrens model guitar my dad bought in the 60's for 25$ at a hardware store in enterprise, oregon.

heitor villa-lobos was a composer from brazil. he wrote some of my favorite songs. and this one is at the top of the charts for me.

here is some old footage of ida presti playing Prelude No. 1 by Heitor Villa-Lobos. Beautiful.

Manitas De Plata

as i guitar player, i am rarely impressed by jazz guitar. even the most lyrical and talented players tend to bore me.

flamenco, on the other hand, along with delta blues, is a guitar style that really gets at what acoustic guitars can do.

Manitas de Plata

henry franklin - the skipper at home

here's a beautiful record i picked up the other day. definitely one for the fans of that 70's sound. give a listen, you wont be disappointed.

HENRY FRANKLIN - "THE SKIPPER AT HOME" (1974)

Tracklist
1. 'Blue Lights' (7:03)
2. 'What Was' (8:28)
3. 'Soft Spirit' (7:35)
4. 'The Magic Boy' (8:49)
5. 'Venus Fly Trap' (6:17)
6. 'Waltz For Boobuss' (3:33)

Tracks 1,3,4 by Al Hall jr.
Tracks 5,6 by David Durrah
Track 2 by Chick Corea

Musicians
Bass - Henry Franklin (Nyimbo)
Drums - Ndugu (Leon Chancelor)
Guitar - Kenny Climas
Saxophone [Soprano] - Kemang Sunduza (Bill Henderson)
Saxophone [Tenor] - Charles Owens
Trombone - Al Hall, Jr.
Trumpet - Oscar Brashear (Cache)
Vocals (5) "The Sisters Happiness" - Patricia Talbert , Penny Holt (Ki Kuu) , Shirley Reid , Shirley Thornton
Piano (5,6) - David Durrah
Piano, Flute (6) - Kirk Lightsey (Thalmus)

download Henry Franklin.rar

anthony braxton, william parker, milford graves: beyond quantum

3 of the greatest musicians of all time, playing together. one of those lineups i may have once dreamed about. this album is nothing short of brilliant. released on john zorn's tzadik label august 2008.

from the tzadik website:

"Anthony Braxton, Milford Graves and William Parker are quite literally three of the most important virtuoso instrumentalists in new music, each a vivid conceptualist as well an influential composer/perf o rm e r. This intense improvisational outing features them at their best: excited, inspired and in complete communication. Recorded and mixed by musical alchemist Bill Laswell, sparks fly in this important and historic meeting of creative music masters."

Personnel:
Anthony Braxton: Saxophones
Milford Graves: Percussion
William Parker: Bass

download beyond quantum here:
http://www.mediafire.com/file/idmzommmnwe/anthonywilliammilford.zip

ornette coleman - in all languages

i found a cd copy of this recording at the eugene public library about 10 years ago, perhaps i was 18 at the time. i fell in love with it, made a cassette copy (which i still have), and wore out the tape. i could never find an original copy of my own.


this album was released on the caravan of dreams label. from wikipedia:

"The Caravan of Dreams was a performing arts center located in the central business district of Fort Worth, Texas during the 1980s and 1990s. The venue was best known locally as a live music nightclub, though this only represented one portion of a larger facility. The center also included a multitrack recording studio, a 212 seat theater, two dance studios, and a rooftop garden.

The Caravan of Dreams was self-described as "a meeting place appealing to audiences who enjoy the creation of new forms of music, theater, dance, poetry and film" that was "architected and managed by and for artists."^[3] The name was taken from 1001 Arabian Nights, by way of Brion Gysin, who attended the opening of the venue with William S. Burroughs in 1983.^[4] The opening celebration centered around performances by Fort Worth native Ornette Coleman, both with his Prime Time ensemble in the nightclub, and with the Fort Worth Symphony at the nearby Convention Center. The event coincided with the mayoral proclamation of September 29, 1983 as "Ornette Coleman Day," when Coleman was presented with a key to the city.^[5]

The center operated its own record label, releasing albums by Coleman as well as artists such as Ronald Shannon Jackson, James "Blood" Ulmer, and Twins Seven Seven. Caravan of Dreams also released films (including Ornette: Made in America, a feature-length documentary about Coleman) and spoken word recordings by William S. Burroughs, Brion Gysin, John P. Allen (as Johnny Dolphin), and others.

The rooftop garden featured hundreds of cacti and succulent plants, as well as a glass geodesic dome. Several years later, Biosphere 2 would incorporate geodesic domes in its structure, with the involvement of some of the same principals behind Caravan of Dreams.^[6]

Eventually the facility became less geared toward the experimental (though high-profile) musicians, writers, and artists with whom it was associated in its early days. Caravan of Dreams ceased its production of entertainment media, and the nightclub hosted more mainstream performers outside of the jazz genre.

The nightclub closed in 2001, exactly eighteen years to the day after Ornette Coleman Day, and was converted into a restaurant, Reata at Sundance Square.^[7] The theater space continued to be operated as such."

the other day i was poking around inside jackpot records on hawthorne street here in portland. i usually do not shop at trendy record shops like that (at least not with jazz vinyl on the shopping list), but i happened to be walking by so i went in. inside i found a sealed unopened original vinyl copy of "in all languages" by ornette coleman. for 10 bucks. i could not believe my eyes - even the cd copies of are rare and generally go for around 40 bucks on ebay.

in all languages, on vinyl, is a 2 record set. the first record consists of ornette's classic 60's quartet (c. haden, d. cherry, e. blackwell) playing 10 songs. on the second record the same 10 songs are performed by his 80's harmolodic ensemble, prime time. and of course the sound and the arrangements are completely different on each LP.

the guy behind the counter said no one was buying the album because of the cover, because it looked like bad 80's jazz (whatever that's supposed to mean). thats why i do not shop in trendy record shops. and thats why i should start shopping in trendy record shops.

download it here: http://www.mediafire.com/?yojjr9nyxtd