The Squid's Ear
Recently @ Squidco:

Charles Mingus:
Presents Charles Mingus To Pre Bird, Revisited (ezz-thetics by Hat Hut Records Ltd)

Three sides of Charles Mingus in this remastered reissue set: the 1961 Candid album Mingus Presents Mingus with the classic quartet of Eric Dolphy, Ted Curson and Dannie Richmond; then the Mercury release Pre-Bird from the same year, in ensembles performing the music of or influenced by Duke Ellington, along with the ambitious and brilliant through-composed work, "Half Mast Inhibition". ... Click to View


Franz Koglmann:
Near Blue - A Taste of Melancholy (ezz-thetics by Hat Hut Records Ltd)

Presented in two versions--a stereo mix and a binaural mix for headphones--flugelhorn improviser and composer Franz Koglmann leads his septet of exceptional players through 10 original Koglmann compositions, sophisticated works that show influences from Ellington to Franz Joseph Haydn or Johann Strauss, in pieces influenced by or tipping the hat to modern artists, musicians and writers. ... Click to View


Nikolaus Gerszewski :
3 Works For Strings, Giusto Chamber Orchestra (ezz-thetics by Hat Hut Records Ltd)

Giusto Chamber Orchestra performs three works for twelve strings by German composer and visual artist Nikolaus Gerszewski, whose music of shifting pitches, vibrations and volumes--compared with experimental sound & noise work--is influenced by composers Radulescu and Dumitrescu's spectral music, James Tenney's "swell form" and Cornelius Cardew's graphic scores. ... Click to View


Void Patrol (Sharp / Stetson / Martin / MacDonald):
Live @ Victo (Victo)

A wild and adventurous concert and one of the highlights of the 39th Festival International de Musique Actuelle de Victoriaville from the electric improvising quartet of Elliott Sharp on electric guitar & electronics, Colin Stetson on bass, alto & tenor saxophones, Billy Martin on drums & percussion and Payton Macdonald on marimba, vibraphone & African xylophone. ... Click to View


Federico Ughi (w / Leo Genovese / Brandon Lopez):
Infinite Cosmos Calling You You You, Vol. 1 (577 Records)

The first album under 577 label leader and drummer Federico Ughi's name in five years brings together the incredible bass skills of Brandon Lopez and expansive Argentinean keyboard sonics of Leo Genovese, the first of two planned volumes recorded in the studio for a boundary-less album of acoustic and electric improv influenced by the music and philosophy of Sun Ra. ... Click to View


Federico Ughi (w / Leo Genovese / Brandon Lopez):
Infinite Cosmos Calling You You You, Vol. 1 [VINYL] (577 Records)

The first album under 577 label leader and drummer Federico Ughi's name in five years brings together the incredible bass skills of Brandon Lopez and expansive Argentinean keyboard sonics of Leo Genovese, the first of two planned volumes recorded in the studio for a boundary-less album of acoustic and electric improv influenced by the music and philosophy of Sun Ra. ... Click to View


Sven-Ake Johansson / Alexander Von Schlippenbach:
uber Ursache und Wirkung der Meinungsverschiedenheiten beim Turmbau zu Babel [VINYL 2 LPs & PAL DVD] (Trost Records)

Documenting the 1994 avant music drama composed by pianist Alexander von Schlippenbach and accordionist Sven-Ake Johansson, uber Ursache und Wirkung der Meinungsverschiedenheiten beim Turmbau zu Babel (on the cause and effect of the disagreements over the building of the Tower of Babel) through a double LP, DVD, libretto and 16-page booklet in a solid box set. ... Click to View


Musicworks:
#147 Winter 2024 [MAGAZINE + CD] (Musicworks)

Winter 2024 issue of Canada's premiere new music magazine, with Saxophonist Andrew MacKelvie on the cover; plus features on Indonesia's Music Subculture; Sonny-Ray Day Ride; Solidaridad Tango; A History of the Canadian Electronic Ensemble; plus album reviews, essays and a CD of tracks from artists covered in the magazine. ... Click to View


Witches & Devils (Williams / Vandermark / Lonberg-Holm):
At the Empty Bottle (Knitting Factory Works)

Before his ecstatic Xmas series, An Ayler Xmas, Chicago saxophonist Mars Williams led the Witches & Devils quintet of Mars Williams on reeds, Ken Vandermark on reeds, Jim Baker on keyboards, Fred Lonberg-Holm on cello and Kent Kessler on bass, an incredible and passionate free jazz group paying tribute to the music of Albert Ayler, heard live at The Empty Bottle in 1997. ... Click to View


Simulacrum:
Mechatronics (Evil Clown)

This ensemble features 3 core Evil Clown members--David Peck on reeds, winds, percussion & electronics; Eric Woods on analog synth; and Bob Moores on space trumpet, guitar & electronics--with guests Michael Caglianone on reeds & percussion, Robin Amos on electric zither and keyboards; Faruq Hassan on samplers & keys; Albey OnBass on bass; and Michael Knoblach on military devices. ... Click to View


Peter Brotzmann / Paal Nilssen-Love:
Chicken Shit Bingo (Trost Records)

Often performing together as a duo after their initial 2004 Chicago Tentet encounter, drummer/percussionist Paal Nilssen and multi-reedist Peter Brötzmann typically released albums of live performances, this 2015 studio date in Antwerp unique in their catalog, an exemplary set of recordings, particularly with Brötzmann on a new contra-alto clarinet and Paal adding gongs to their improvisations. ... Click to View


Peter Brotzmann / Paal Nilssen-Love:
Chicken Shit Bingo [VINYL] (Trost Records)

Often performing together as a duo after their initial 2004 Chicago Tentet encounter, drummer/percussionist Paal Nilssen and multi-reedist Peter Brötzmann typically released albums of live performances, this 2015 studio date in Antwerp unique in their catalog, an exemplary set of recordings, particularly with Brötzmann on a new contra-alto clarinet and Paal adding gongs to their improvisations. ... Click to View


Jean Derome:
La Chaleur De La Pensee (Ambiances Magnetiques)

Concepts of community, dialog, sharing and transmission, or "recontre", are the linking ideas between these four works commissioned of Montreal composer and wind player Jean Derome, developed for four Quebec ensembles, these pieces combine contemporary and improvisational forms, the scores shaped by constraints from the combinatorial mathematics of Marin Mersenne. ... Click to View


Giuseppe Doronzo / Andy Moor / Frank Rosaly:
Futuro Ancestrale (Clean Feed)

Having worked together in other collaborations, this was the first meeting as a trio by Giuseppe Doronzo on baritone sax & Iranian bagpipe, Andy Moor on electric guitar and Frank Rosaly on drums, performing live at BIMHUIS in Amsterdam for a contemplatively charged set of unorthodox instrumental approaches using contemporary improv attitudes through structured and collective playing. ... Click to View


Norbert Pfammatter / Florestan Berset / Francesco Losavio:
A Vol D'Oiseau (Listen! Foundation (Fundacja Sluchaj!))

The Swiss guitar trio of Florestan Berset on electric guitar with Norbert Pfammatter on drums and Francesco Losavio on double bass perform a mix of lyrical compositions from Berset, along with lyrically inclined collective improvisation from the group, each player bringing unique approaches to their instruments in a highly compatible set of conversations. ... Click to View


CHANGES TO blind:
Volume Eight: Before Birth to Expiration (Squidco Records)

The eighth album from the long-running CHANGES TO blind project of Phil Zampino, eight works drawing on compositions & improvisations, acoustic & synthetic instruments, field recordings & samples, with guests Levi Erik providing field recordings & voice and Wilmington, NC's 910 Noise Members of Carl Kruger, subterrene, John Bishop, Authorless and Ryan Lewis. ... Click to View


Marc Baron / Mark Vernon:
post-chance (erstwhile)

Mailing unspooled 1/4" tape to each other along with a magnet to randomly erase part of each tape, Marc Baron & Mark Vernon captured these fragments and placed them into sequence based on the minute past the hour each was originally recorded, contrasting the degraded recordings with the original; an exacting but fascinating method of creating something unexpected and uniquely engaging. ... Click to View


Elliot Sharp:
Arbor (zOaR Records)

A collection of arboreal pieces for solo acoustic guitar--wood transformed into a resonator with the help of metal oscillators and digital manipulation--performed in the studio by NY guitarist and improviser Elliott Sharp, developing the works around trees, "austere and intense", each piece unfolding like delicate branches of acoustic and ethereal framework. ... Click to View


Hal Russell / Mars Wiliams:
EFTSOONS [VINYL] (NESSA)

Eftsoons (defined as "soon after") is the 1981 duo album from NRG Ensemble leader Hal Russell with ensemble saxophonist and Chicago mainstay saxophonist Mars Williams, who also performs on slide whistle, bells and "lots of other stuff", Russell also performing on cornet, vibraphone and toys; an exciting and energetic album of truly free, inspired playing! ... Click to View


Leap of Faith:
Quest for Uncertainty (Evil Clown)

Joining the Boston free improvising duo of David Peck on clarinets, saxophones, clarinets & flutes, and Glynis Lomon on cello, aquasonic & voice--the core duo of Leap of Faith Orchestra--are Bonnie Kane on tenor sax, flute & electronics, and John Loggia on drums and percussion, capturing the extended title track and a brief, "possible outcome" as a summation. ... Click to View


Ivo Perelman / Mark Helias / Tom Rainey:
Truth Seeker (Listen! Foundation (Fundacja Sluchaj!))

Meeting at Park West Studios in Brooklyn, the NY trio of Ivo Perelman on tenor saxophone, Mark Helias on bass and Tom Rainey on drums record seven collective free improvisations of great depth and expression, unhurried playing that concentrates on the group dialog, yielding space for exceptional soloing supported by perceptive interaction; masterful! ... Click to View


Scheen Jazzorkester & Cortex:
Frameworks - Music by Thomas Johansson (Clean Feed)

Merging jazz organizations, Norwegian trumpeter & composer Thomas Johansson brings together the third stream large band Scheen Jazzorkester with the electric jazz band Cortex (Kristoffer Alberts (baritone & tenor saxophone), Ola Høyer (double bass) and Dag Erik Knedal Andersen (drums)), for a rousing, exciting and diverse live concert at Hamar Teater in Norway. ... Click to View


Joana Sa:
A Body as Listening (Clean Feed)

The concluding opus of a trilogy that began with "Through This Looking Glass" and followed with "In Praise Of Disorder", Portuguese pianist Joana Sa merges acoustic piano with well-balanced electronics and resonance, using preparations and fragments of previous recordings to create a uniquely expressive solo performance: forceful, fragile, and captivatingly fascinating. ... Click to View


Scratching Fork (Malinowski / Rychlicki / Zadruzynski):
Scratching Fork II (Listen! Foundation (Fundacja Sluchaj!))

The 2nd album from the Polish guitar trio of Marek Malinowski on guitar, Robert Rychlicki-Gasowski on double bass & bass guitar, and Wojciech Zadruaynski on drums, performing Malinowski's embraceable mix of lyrically inclined modern jazz compositions with an explorative side, balancing structure with free space for sprightly spontaneity, a beautiful followup. ... Click to View


Zakrocki / Garbowski / Gradziuk:
Ballads And Blues [2 CDs] (Listen! Foundation (Fundacja Sluchaj!))

A series of electroacoustic improv "Ballads" and "Blues", beautiful and chimerical works at the intersection of strings and a miscellany of percussion, patiently and unhurriedly unfolding under the deep listening ears from the Polish trio of Patryk Zakrocki on prepared electric guitar & granular delay, Maciej Garbowski on double bass and Krzysztof Gradziuk on multipercussion, objects & toys. ... Click to View


Elliott Sharp:
The Collapsed Wave (zOaR Records)

The NY duo of Elliott Sharp and Don McKenzie pay tribute to guitar-oriented instrumental rock as practiced by Jimi Hendrix, Jeff Beck, John McLaughlin, Sonny Sharrock, Miles Daves, &c, music that valued virtuosity and embraceability, with Sharp performing on Strats, Les Pauls, steel guitar, a Vietnamese ghita phim lom on Uchuu, mandola & mandocello and Telecaster. ... Click to View


Tragic Assembly + Tatsuya Nakatani :
Live at the Artscenter (Soul City Sounds)

The NC Tragic Assembly free improvising trio of Charles Chace on guitar, Crowmeat Bob on reeds and Phil Venable on upright bass are joined for this 2022 concert at Carrboro, NC's ArtCenter by improvising percussion powerhouse Tatsuya Nakatani, adding sonic expansion and rhythmic punctuation to this trio's typically drum free configuration, heard in four striking improvisations. ... Click to View


Miharu Ogura:
Ogura Plays Ogura (thanatosis produktion)

Following her 2022 album Ogura Plays Stockhausen, Japanese born, Frankfurt-based pianist Miharu Ogura turns her attention to her own compositions, presenting five uniquely creative works unfolding in pacing that surprises the listener, balancing silence and clusters of layered patterns that move at differing speeds and rhythms, from simple clarity to labyrinthine entanglement. ... Click to View


Henrik Olsson / Aviva Endean:
Split Series Vol. 2 (FRIM Records)

Part of the split series from Swedish label FRIM (Association For Free Improvised Music), this album presents the two solo concerts from an evening at Rönnells Antikvariat during the 2022 Sound of Stockholm festival, first from drummer Henrik Olsson performing on turntables & objects; then from Aviva Endean on clarinets, electronics, voice & plastic pipes. ... Click to View


Wadada Smith Leo / Joe Morris:
Earth's Frequencies (Listen! Foundation (Fundacja Sluchaj!))

Delicately forceful, the live concert at Real Art Ways, in Hartford, Connecticut as part of the ImprovisatioNOW concert series, is a perfect encounter between two legendary New York improvisers--trumpeter Wadada Leo Smith and guitarist Joe Morris--capturing five dialogs of impressive technique and creative expression, including references to Monk and Ma Rainey. ... Click to View



  •  •  •     Join Our Mailing List!



The Squid's Ear
Facebook: Squidco Sales



  When They Write the Book  

Pianist Lewis Porter's Creates an Encyclopedia of Jazz


By Matt Rand 2003-03-28

There's a fundamental difference for documentarians between exploring the past and organizing the present. The historian who mines the past is a detective, searching for ways to expand the scope and the cohesion of information that has been dwindling. Lewis Porter Clues abound, but they aren't growing. With each year, the potential for errors magnifies, and the uninspected moments recede into quiet solitude. The chronicler who gives order to the present, however, has to make sense of more information than he could sift through in a lifetime. The present is everywhere, is ever changing, and so the historian has to pick and choose, define general movements and trends. Sometimes, though, a historian comes along and wants to catalog everything, to leave no stone unturned. More power to him, the rest of us think. Let him be our Sisyphus.

For much of his career as a jazz historian (as well as a jazz pianist), Lewis Porter, the director of the Masters Program in Jazz History and Research at Rutgers University, has focused on the past. In one of his better known works, John Coltrane: His Life and Music, Porter investigated a life already much written about. But he took on the subject by starting at the beginning and taking nothing for granted. One example is the discrepancy he noticed between Coltrane's previously reported years of military service (December, 1945 - June, 1946) and the actual way in which military service generally plays out. How could he have started in the Navy band, as was previously reported, when he first started in the Navy? What about basic training? As it turns out, the date most biographers had used came from an interview where Coltrane said he was in the band from December, 1945 to June, 1946, not that he was in the military from December, 1945 to June, 1946.Military service records are publicly available, so Porter checked on it. Sure enough, the earlier figure was wrong, and Coltrane actually served from July, 1945 to August, 1946.

So what, right? We care about Coltrane the musician, not Coltrane the short-term soldier. But Porter insists, and makes a very convincing case, that this is exactly what is important. First, it gives fluidity and cohesion to a musician's life. Musicians are people, after all, with birthdays, anniversaries, family and sometimes also military service. Porter explains that "one thing that's missing in all the other reference works and a lot of what's written about jazz is any sense that jazz musicians have families. Look at a biography of anyone who's not a jazz musician: the first thing they go into is the family history. Whether you're looking at Edward R. Murrow, or any book about any president, or about James Joyce or Ernest Hemingway, the first thing they do is say his father was named this, his mother was named that and this is where he came from. So you have a sense that they didn't just land on this planet - Miles Davis didn't just land on the planet in 1926."

The second reason that comprehensive (and accurate) information is important is a little less direct, but is just as compelling. Jazz has always been an also-ran for historians, and even, more specifically, for musicologists. The discourse on Bach is very different from the discourse on John Coltrane. Keeping the history, then, becomes a struggle for the validity of jazz and its musicians. Huge institutional strides have been made of late, but we still look at its past with the kind of wonder that we usually save for mythology, or for things we don't know much about. Louis Armstrong and Charlie Parker are colossal figures who could pick up rail cars with their bare hands and bend street signs with their minds.

For Porter, jazz musicians are real people living in real places, and that they are part of a community of musicians that they both affect and are affected by. This has brought him headlong out of the past and into the present. He is presently working on a jazz encyclopedia, but it won't be like the ones that came before it. Porter is aiming to include all living jazz musicians in his encyclopedia. Yes, all of them.

"It's great to have the Grove [New Grove Dictionary of Jazz] and the one that Leonard Feather did that was revised by Ira Gitler [The Biographical Encyclopedia of Jazz]," he said, "but they do a lot of picking and choosing of who quote-unquote 'deserves' to be in an encyclopedia. What I'd like to see out there is not to have anybody deciding whether you deserve to be in there or not, just a place to find anybody that you may hear on a recording or go see out in the club... The only bottom line is they have to be performing on a professional level."

Though don't take that to mean that a musician has to earn all of his money playing jazz, just that he plays actual gigs. Sisyphus, indeed, is in the building. ("Oh, no question about that," Portet said. "This rock is going to roll right over me.")

As biographical information goes, the encyclopedia is going to have everything. It'll have information on the musicians' parents, siblings, spouses and children; on radio, film and TV broadcasts and appearances; on unissued recordings; newspaper and magazine articles; awards; websites; contact information, and photos. There will be indexes based on last name, birth year and instrument. And, "because I'm a jazz historian, I have files on probably about 5,000 jazz musicians, of things that are in the news, things that I've observed myself and things that they've told me." Those will find their way into the book, as well.

There are a couple caveats (that the mam moth task requires superhuman patience is merely an aside). "The day it comes out, two things are going to happen," Porter said. "One is I'm going to have dozens of emails from musicians saying 'Oh, I changed my website or my phone number,' or 'I forgot to tell you something.' And the other thing that's going to happen is there'll be a whole new group. I'm sure there are going to be dozens of musicians a day saying, 'I didn't know about this - how did I not know about this? How come I'm not in there?'" But of course, he added, "that'll be the impetus for a new edition."

Another issue that will come up is that some musicians will pass away during the process of putting the book together. "I'm being a little bit flexible about that, because some cats have passed away in the last year or so. In some cases I'm in touch with the family. For instance, I know the widow of Ken McIntyre, and she says, 'you know I can give you a biography; I'm his widow; I know stuff that nobody knows.' And he just passed away, so why not?"

Porter understands that, for the encyclopedia to be a valuable reference tool, it must develop a context for the musicians. And so he aims to capture the essence of the jazz scene at this particular point in time. But he won't be writing articles on the music, like those that appear in the New Grove Dictionary of Jazz. What he will be doing to foster this context is letting the musicians write their own entries, which he says about a third of them have done so far (with Porter acting as fact-checker). Porter hopes that by encouraging musicians to write their own entries, they'll be able to share their stories as they see them, and in so doing, will create a collection of accurate representations of what's actually going on in jazz.

There are, of course, drawbacks to this system. Porter had initially intended to collect all of the information by January 1 of thi s year, but that hasn't happened yet. He's not drastically off-schedule, but he is certainly knee-deep in a lot more information than he expected. "It's been hours a day, getting my email, sorting it into files, making an index of who's responded so far," he said.

And the entries keep coming in. Porter said he's been surprised by the number of international submissions he's received from musicians he hadn't heard of, but who are very well-known in their home countries. They've been rolling in from the Netherlands, from Poland, from Finland. He's also been surprised by some of the big names who have personally sent him submissions, players such as Joe McPhee, Jane Ira Bloom and Roy Campbell. Initially, he thought he'd be doing most of the work for the musicians he knows of. ("Wynton Marsalis and Joshua Redman won't be sending me submissions.") So it's hard to step away from it all, although he knows he'll eventually have to. "There's going to be a point where I just have to call it quits. I'll just have to say, 'Okay, that's how big the book's going to be,' because it certainly could go on forever."

Until then, the pile of submissions grows, and the unturned stones are becoming harder to spot. It seems Dr. Porter might almost be getting this rock to the top of the hill. He comes back to explaining the value of contact information for the musicians, which Leonard Feather's encyclopedia had included, as well. Porter laughs and then says, "It's kind of fun, actually. You browse through it and it'll say 'Thelonius Monk,' and it'll have his address at West 64 Street." Time has a funny way of making history.

Lewis Porter is accepting entries for his jazz encyclopedia through May 15, 2003. He can be contacted at lrpjazz@aol.com



The Squid's Ear presents
reviews about releases
sold at Squidco.com
written by
independent writers.

Squidco

Recent Selections @ Squidco:


Federico Ughi (
w /
Leo Genovese /
Brandon Lopez):
Infinite Cosmos
Calling You You You,
Vol. 1
(577 Records)



Sven-Ake Johansson /
Alexander Von Schlippenbach:
uber Ursache
und Wirkung der
Meinungsverschiedenheiten
beim Turmbau zu Babel
[VINYL 2 LPs & PAL DVD]
(Trost Records)



Charles Mingus:
Presents Charles Mingus
To
Pre Bird,
Revisited
(ezz-thetics by
Hat Hut Records
Ltd)



Franz Koglmann:
Near Blue -
A Taste of
Melancholy
(ezz-thetics by
Hat Hut Records
Ltd)



Void Patrol (
Sharp /
Stetson /
Martin /
MacDonald):
Live @ Victo
(Victo)



Peter Brotzmann /
Paal Nilssen-Love:
Chicken Shit Bingo
(Trost Records)



Jean Derome:
La Chaleur De La Pensee
(Ambiances Magnetiques)



Giuseppe Doronzo /
Andy Moor /
Frank Rosaly:
Futuro Ancestrale
(Clean Feed)



Hal Russell /
Mars Wiliams:
EFTSOONS
[VINYL]
(NESSA)



Scratching Fork (
Malinowski /
Rychlicki /
Zadruzynski):
Scratching Fork
II
(Listen! Foundation (
Fundacja Sluchaj!))



Ivo Perelman /
Mark Helias /
Tom Rainey:
Truth Seeker
(Listen! Foundation (
Fundacja Sluchaj!))



Elliott Sharp:
The Collapsed Wave
(zOaR Records)



Scheen Jazzorkester
&
Cortex:
Frameworks -
Music by
Thomas Johansson
(Clean Feed)



Quatuor Bozzini:
Jurg Frey: String Quartet
No. 4
(Collection QB)



Ensemble SuperMusique:
Le fil d'Ariane
(Ambiances Magnetiques)



Wadada Smith Leo /
Joe Morris:
Earth's Frequencies
(Listen! Foundation (
Fundacja Sluchaj!))



Paul Dunmall /
Paul Rogers /
Marc Sanders:
Wildlife
(Listen! Foundation (
Fundacja Sluchaj!))



Susanna Hood Trio:
unPacked
(Ambiances Magnetiques)



Jonas Cambien:
Maca Conu
(Clean Feed)



PNY Quintet (
Swell /
Brown /
Edelin /
Giron /
Betsch):
Over The Wall
(RogueArt)







Squidco
Click here to
advertise with
The Squid's Ear






The Squid's Ear pays its writers.
Interested in becoming a reviewer?




The Squid's Ear is the companion magazine to the online music shop Squidco !


  Copyright © Squidco. All rights reserved. Trademarks. (16396)