I do share the same initials as John Zorn, as well as an appreciation of improvisation.I'm even improvising this pointless blurb.
This long album is from the early days of Eugene Chadbournes vast list of collaborations and record releases.This one with old chum, the very clever, and don't he want you to know it,Zorn.J, the king of the downtown Noo yawk jazzy intelligentsia.
This double album of Evan Parker and Bailey-isms features many familiar faces of the free-improv scene in New York, like Davey Williams, LaDonna Smith, and Henry Kaiser.So you know what to expect,or, if you don't, its got lots of scratchy guitars, mangled sax noise,and sounds like a chimps tea party let loose with some instruments.Alas, there is an admirable amount of quiet sections to lessen the irritation factor,so that's a plus point.Don't get me wrong, this is a good album, but one gets the definite impression that you've heard it all before?
Tracklist:
A1 Solitude 7:50
A2 Duet 2:45
A3 The Return Of Romance 6:20
A4 The Shreeve 1:40
A5 The Fling 2:39
B1 Missing Persons 7:45
B2 Welcome West 15:05
C Lacrosse-take 3 23:05
D1 Lacrosse-take 4 19:02
D2 Lacrosse-take 6 6:10
Play this to your friends and you'll soon find out which ones are genuine.The ones who can't at least appreciate the experimental approach on offer should be kicked to the curb anyway, the ones that remain in the room have potential.
I've heard far more room clearing records than this one, but I thought, taking the album title into account, that it was an appropraite angle to take my speil on.
Of course I don't mean you to be as shallow as to choose your friends by musical ordeal, although it may be fun.Its best to do it to strangers in a public place.....'Wyatting' I think it has been called by some broadsheet journalist after witnessing the pub emptying qualities of Robert Wyatt's 'Dondestan' album?!...don't get it myself, as this Wyatt album is rather pleasant and mellow;although I understand that the public would have difficulty in accepting Robert's vocal abilities as listenable. Which is strange, because I frequently put forward the great mans name as my singer of preference!?
I doubt any Pub jukebox would be allowed to play the entirety of any of the tracks on this collaboration.
"That ain't Music", said the ruddy faced moron in the union jack t-shirt.
"Don't call that Guitar playing do ya?" slobbered the guy with the missing two front teeth as he salivated into the dregs of his stella Artois.
"We didn't get our fucking country back to listen to this foreign shit", said the apoplectic gammon with the 'Brexit means Brexit' badge, shaking with barely controllable rage!Which sends him into a Liam Neeson style fit of violent revenge as he storms out of the bar looking for foreigners.
The Pub is now ,thankfully empty, and the remaining three persons can now repopulate the establishment with brain cells.
Tracklist:
AA It Moves ... 2:00
AB The Changing Of Names 5:45
AC It Sings 5:40
AD Believing What We Read 3:00
AE ...But Does It Swing ? 3:30
BF Twisted Memories Give Way To The Angry Present 3:50
BG Black Glass 5:30
BH Third Rail 3:25
BI Three Languages 9:30
Henry Kaiser sounds too clever by half.
What do you expect from someone who learned all the guitar parts from "Trout Mask Replica" off by heart?
But, at least he recognises true innovation when he sees or hears it, and this is why he has faultlessly championed Derek Bailey over the years,.... the avant-guitarists avant-guitarist.
Here,or hear, they are, in a relentless improv-off, that culminates in Kaiser asking Derek if he wanted to do a 'loud one', to which the great man replied with a succinct.....'OK'. Always open to anything was our Derek.
Tracklist:
1 Quick Match
2 Flights
3 Red Flash
4 Silver Tails
5 Chrysanthemums
6 Hanabi
7 Flair
8 Flare
9 Ring Starmines
10 Dark Fire
11 Snake In The Grass
12 Battle In The Clouds
13 Safe And Sane
Another Davey Williams/Derek Bailey connection is that Davey appeared on this DB posthumous tribute album put together by Henry Kaiser, playing with Henry on "Two Of A Kind" from 1979.
Some tracks are interspersed with recollections of working with Derek, or what Bailey meant to these Bailey influenced musicians.
Andrea Centazzo also appears on here,also having worked with Bailey and Davey Williams previously.
Expect all the tracks to be from the free improvisation end of the musical spectrum.All performed LIVE with no overdubs, and minimal editing.
Tracklist:
1 Mahalo E Derek
Soloist, Electric Guitar, Voice – Henry Kaiser 5:35
2 Gamera Tai Reptilicus 2005
Electric Guitar – Henry Kaiser Shakuhachi – Kiku Day 4:07
3 The Tsuchigumi Five-Wheel Technique Vs. The Seagull School 1981
Electric Guitar [Two At Once] – Henry KaiserPercussion – Charles K. Noyes 9:15
4 The Worst Of Times 1992
Soloist, Electric Guitar – Henry Kaiser 6:11
5 Continue On 2006
Bass Guitar, Voice – Henry KaiserTenor Saxophone, Voice – Henry Kuntz 4:09
6 Improvisation 102a 1978
Electric Guitar – Henry Kaiser Trumpet – Toshinori Kondo 1:31
7 Improvisation 102x 1978
Electric Guitar – Henry Kaiser Percussion – Andrea Centazzo 2:57
8 Just Be A SCUBA Diver 2006
Double Bass, Voice – Damon Smith Ukulele, Voice – Henry Kaiser 4:04
9 Book Review 2005
Soloist, Acoustic Guitar, Voice – Henry Kaiser 13:38
10 Two Of A Kind 1979
Electric Guitar – Davey Williams, Henry Kaiser 6:05
11 The Metalanguage Trio 2006
Electric Guitar, Voice – Henry Kaiser Piano, Voice – Greg GoodmanSopranino Saxophone, Voice – Larry Ochs 4:47
12 The Night Of Departure 1996
Soloist, Acoustic Guitar – Henry Kaiser 3:15
13 Tokyo Trio For Aida 1979
Double Bass – Motoharu Yoshizawa Electric Guitar – Henry Kaiser Tenor Saxophone – Mototeru Takagi 6:07
14 Pre-Vou 1996
Alto Saxophone – John Oswald Electric Guitar – Henry Kaiser 1:25
15 Kavichandran Salp'uri 1993
Electric Guitar – Derek Bailey, Henry Kaiser Janggu [Changgo], Voice – Sang-Won Park 5:36
